Property, Plant and Equipment - Historical Cost Table (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment	$ 6,861,942	$ 6,556,778
Accumulated depreciation	1,812,010	1,697,999
Net property, plant and equipment	5,049,932	4,858,779
Western Gas Partners, LP [Member] \| Land [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment	4,012	3,744
Western Gas Partners, LP [Member] \| Gathering Systems and Processing Complexes [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment	$ 6,462,053	6,061,004
Western Gas Partners, LP [Member] \| Gathering Systems and Processing Complexes [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Estimated useful life	3 years
Western Gas Partners, LP [Member] \| Gathering Systems and Processing Complexes [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Estimated useful life	47 years
Western Gas Partners, LP [Member] \| Pipelines and Equipment [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment	$ 139,646	136,290
Western Gas Partners, LP [Member] \| Pipelines and Equipment [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Estimated useful life	15 years
Western Gas Partners, LP [Member] \| Pipelines and Equipment [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Estimated useful life	45 years
Western Gas Partners, LP [Member] \| Assets Under Construction [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment	$ 226,626	329,887
Western Gas Partners, LP [Member] \| Other [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Property, plant and equipment	$ 29,605	$ 25,853
Western Gas Partners, LP [Member] \| Other [Member] \| Minimum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Estimated useful life	3 years
Western Gas Partners, LP [Member] \| Other [Member] \| Maximum [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Estimated useful life	40 years

Amount of accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization for physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)
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Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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Amount before accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization of physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale. Examples include, but are not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, and furniture and fixtures.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

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Amount after accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization of physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale. Examples include, but are not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, and furniture and fixtures.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(13))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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-Topic 210
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-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

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-Publisher FASB
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Useful life of long lived, physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days. Examples include, but not limited to, land, buildings, machinery and equipment, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment.

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