Debt and Interest Expense - Interest Expense Table (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		12 Months Ended
		Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest expense	[1]	$ 116,628	$ 113,874	$ 76,769
Third Parties [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt		122,428	102,058	81,495
Amortization of debt issuance costs and commitment fees		7,509	5,734	5,103
Capitalized interest		(5,562)	(8,318)	(9,832)
Interest expense		124,375	99,474	76,766
Affiliates [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest expense	[2]	(7,747)	14,400	3
Affiliates [Member] | Deferred Purchase Price Obligation - Anadarko [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest expense, affiliate	[3]	(7,747)	14,398	0
Affiliates [Member] | Working Capital Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest expense, affiliate		$ 0	$ 2	$ 3

[1] Includes affiliate (as defined in Note 1) amounts of $7.7 million, $(14.4) million and zero for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively. See Note 2 and Note 12.

[2] For the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, includes amounts related to WES’s Deferred purchase price obligation - Anadarko (see Note 2 and Note 12) and for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, includes interest expense recognized on the WGP WCF (see Note 12).

[3] See Note 2 for a discussion of the Deferred purchase price obligation - Anadarko.