Consolidated Statement of Equity and Partners' Capital - 9 months ended Sep. 30, 2018 - USD ($) $ in Thousands		Total	Western Gas Partners, LP [Member]	Chipeta [Member]	Common Units [Member]	Noncontrolling Interests [Member]	Noncontrolling Interests [Member] Western Gas Partners, LP [Member]	Noncontrolling Interests [Member] Chipeta [Member]
Balance at Dec. 31, 2017		$ 3,944,879			$ 1,061,125	$ 2,883,754
Increase (Decrease) in Partners' Capital [Roll Forward]
Net income (loss)		339,728			276,059	63,669
Above-market component of swap agreements with Anadarko	[1]	40,722			40,722
WES equity transactions, net	[2]	0			(14,565)	14,565
Distributions to noncontrolling interest owners			$ (287,435)	$ (9,446)			$ (287,435)	$ (9,446)
Distributions to WGP unitholders		(372,189)			(372,189)
Contributions of equity-based compensation to WES by Anadarko		4,306			4,306
Other		454			150	304
Balance at Sep. 30, 2018		3,616,640			981,408	2,635,232
Increase (Decrease) in Partners' Capital [Roll Forward]
Cumulative effect of accounting change	[3]	$ (44,379)			$ (14,200)	$ (30,179)

[1] See Note 6.

[2] Includes the impact of the cumulative effect of accounting change in WES’s consolidated statement of equity and partners’ capital. The $14.6 million decrease to partners’ capital, together with net income (loss) attributable to Western Gas Equity Partners, LP, totaled $261.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2018.

[3] See Note 1.