Consolidated Statement of Equity and Partners' Capital - 9 months ended Sep. 30, 2017 - USD ($) $ in Thousands		Total	Western Gas Partners, LP [Member]	Chipeta [Member]	Net Investment by Anadarko [Member]	Common Units [Member]	Noncontrolling Interests [Member]	Noncontrolling Interests [Member] Western Gas Partners, LP [Member]	Noncontrolling Interests [Member] Chipeta [Member]
Balance at Dec. 31, 2016		$ 4,110,766			$ 0	$ 1,048,143	$ 3,062,623
Net income (loss)		423,615			0	277,086	146,529
Above-market component of swap agreements with Anadarko	[1]	46,719				46,719
WES equity transactions, net	[2]	(183)				10,800	(10,983)
Distributions to noncontrolling interest owners			$ (262,888)	$ (9,049)				$ (262,888)	$ (9,049)
Distributions to WGP unitholders		(324,290)				(324,290)
Acquisitions from affiliates		0			(30)	30
Revision to Deferred purchase price obligation – Anadarko	[3]	4,165				4,165
Contributions of equity-based compensation to WES by Anadarko		3,333				3,333
Net pre-acquisition contributions from (distributions to) Anadarko		30			30
Net contributions from (distributions to) Anadarko of other assets		1,373				1,373
Other		343				(90)	433
Balance at Sep. 30, 2017		$ 3,993,934			$ 0	$ 1,067,269	$ 2,926,665

[1] See Note 5.

[2] Includes the impact of WES’s (as defined in Note 1) equity offerings as described in Note 4. The $10.8 million increase to partners’ capital, together with net income (loss) attributable to Western Gas Equity Partners, LP, totaled $287.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2017.

[3] See Note 2.