Information about Noble-Cayman - Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 512,245	$ 68,510	$ 114,458	$ 282,092
Accounts receivable	498,931	569,096
Taxes receivable	55,525	107,490
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	173,917	183,466
Total current assets	1,240,618	928,562
Property and equipment, at cost	14,056,323	14,442,922
Accumulated depreciation	(2,572,700)	(2,330,413)
Property and equipment, net	11,483,623	12,112,509
Other assets	167,743	245,751
Total assets	12,891,984	13,286,822
Current liabilities
Current maturities of long-term debt	299,997
Accounts payable	223,221	265,389
Accrued payroll and related costs	81,464	102,520
Taxes payable	87,940	94,230
Interest payable	72,961	61,964
Other current liabilities	98,074	144,571
Total current liabilities	863,657	668,674
Long-term debt	4,188,904	4,869,020
Deferred income taxes	92,797	120,589
Other liabilities	324,396	341,505
Total liabilities	$ 5,469,754	$ 5,999,788
Commitments and contingencies
Total shareholder equity	$ 6,699,229	$ 6,564,730
Noncontrolling interests	723,001	722,304
Total equity	7,422,230	7,287,034	9,050,028	8,488,290
Total liabilities and equity	12,891,984	13,286,822
Noble-Cayman [Member]
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	1,627	5	1	1,003
Short-term notes receivable from affiliates		123,449
Accounts receivable from affiliates	626,305	2,019,319
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	246	14,274
Total current assets	628,178	2,157,047
Notes receivable from affiliates	3,304,652	3,304,654
Investments in affiliates	5,159,064	4,567,335
Other assets	5,954	2,908
Total assets	9,097,848	10,031,944
Current liabilities
Accounts payable		600
Accounts payable to affiliates	868,046	606,224
Interest payable		499
Other current liabilities	40	15,651
Total current liabilities	868,086	622,974
Long-term debt		1,123,495
Notes payable to affiliates	1,518,363	1,769,068
Other liabilities	19,929	19,929
Total liabilities	$ 2,406,378	$ 3,535,466
Commitments and contingencies
Total shareholder equity	$ 6,691,470	$ 6,496,478
Total equity	6,691,470	6,496,478
Total liabilities and equity	9,097,848	10,031,944
NHC [Member]
Current assets
Taxes receivable	12,124	63,373
Accounts receivable from affiliates	451,201	374,012
Total current assets	463,325	437,385
Investments in affiliates	2,174,480	1,318,239
Total assets	2,637,805	1,755,624
Current liabilities
Short-term notes payables from affiliates	171,925	171,925
Accounts payable to affiliates	60,100	63,602
Taxes payable	917
Total current liabilities	232,942	235,527
Total liabilities	$ 232,942	$ 235,527
Commitments and contingencies
Total shareholder equity	$ 2,404,863	$ 1,520,097
Total equity	2,404,863	1,520,097
Total liabilities and equity	2,637,805	1,755,624
NDH [Member]
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	2,101	254	402	904
Accounts receivable	9,381	37,655
Taxes receivable	27	752
Short-term notes receivable from affiliates	119,476	1,077,965
Accounts receivable from affiliates	128,457	192,771
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	1,696	1,764
Total current assets	261,138	1,311,161
Property and equipment, at cost	1,877,520	2,040,168
Accumulated depreciation	(344,591)	(278,147)
Property and equipment, net	1,532,929	1,762,021
Notes receivable from affiliates	236,921	236,921
Investments in affiliates	3,001,327	2,921,452
Other assets	7,496	6,212
Total assets	5,039,811	6,237,767
Current liabilities
Accounts payable	10,676	10,130
Accrued payroll and related costs	6,584	7,738
Accounts payable to affiliates	2,440,965	3,513,705
Other current liabilities	4,108	13,409
Total current liabilities	2,462,333	3,544,982
Notes payable to affiliates	461,379	598,715
Deferred income taxes	1,529
Other liabilities	25,312	29,093
Total liabilities	$ 2,950,553	$ 4,172,790
Commitments and contingencies
Total shareholder equity	$ 2,089,258	$ 2,064,977
Total equity	2,089,258	2,064,977
Total liabilities and equity	5,039,811	6,237,767
NHIL [Member]
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents			4	2
Accounts receivable		2,336
Accounts receivable from affiliates	811,785	157,164
Total current assets	811,785	159,500
Notes receivable from affiliates	1,587,927	1,980,391
Investments in affiliates	9,752,912	8,266,444
Other assets	25,944	19,826
Total assets	12,178,568	10,426,161
Current liabilities
Current maturities of long-term debt	299,997
Accounts payable to affiliates	96,543	61,982
Interest payable	68,549	57,053
Total current liabilities	465,089	119,035
Long-term debt	3,987,209	3,543,830
Notes payable to affiliates	2,086,480	1,169,180
Total liabilities	$ 6,538,778	$ 4,832,045
Commitments and contingencies
Total shareholder equity	$ 5,639,790	$ 5,594,116
Total equity	5,639,790	5,594,116
Total liabilities and equity	12,178,568	10,426,161
NDS6 [Member]
Current assets
Short-term notes receivable from affiliates		333,966
Accounts receivable from affiliates	67,684	125,834
Total current assets	67,684	459,800
Notes receivable from affiliates	5,000	5,000
Investments in affiliates	7,438,397	6,290,918
Other assets	395	517
Total assets	7,511,476	6,756,235
Current liabilities
Short-term notes payables from affiliates		371,720
Accounts payable to affiliates	6,426	16,869
Interest payable	4,412	4,412
Total current liabilities	10,838	393,001
Long-term debt	201,695	201,695
Notes payable to affiliates	124,216	192,216
Total liabilities	$ 336,749	$ 786,912
Commitments and contingencies
Total shareholder equity	$ 7,174,727	$ 5,969,323
Total equity	7,174,727	5,969,323
Total liabilities and equity	7,511,476	6,756,235
Other Non-guarantor Subsidiaries of Noble [Member]
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	508,067	65,521	109,975	275,466
Accounts receivable	489,550	529,105
Taxes receivable	43,291	43,164
Short-term notes receivable from affiliates	171,925	171,925
Accounts receivable from affiliates	3,445,590	4,191,406
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	166,527	123,631
Total current assets	4,824,950	5,124,752
Property and equipment, at cost	12,177,038	12,364,203
Accumulated depreciation	(2,227,740)	(2,040,073)
Property and equipment, net	9,949,298	10,324,130
Notes receivable from affiliates	2,435,154	1,581,429
Other assets	118,869	192,791
Total assets	17,328,271	17,223,102
Current liabilities
Short-term notes payables from affiliates	119,476	1,163,660
Accounts payable	210,401	250,282
Accrued payroll and related costs	74,780	83,749
Accounts payable to affiliates	2,058,942	2,798,124
Taxes payable	87,191	91,471
Other current liabilities	92,183	110,890
Total current liabilities	2,642,973	4,498,176
Notes payable to affiliates	3,379,216	3,379,216
Deferred income taxes	91,268	120,589
Other liabilities	274,271	286,942
Total liabilities	$ 6,387,728	$ 8,284,923
Commitments and contingencies
Total shareholder equity	$ 9,781,284	$ 7,812,656
Noncontrolling interests	1,159,259	1,125,523
Total equity	10,940,543	8,938,179
Total liabilities and equity	17,328,271	17,223,102
Noble Corp [Member]
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	511,795	65,780	110,382	277,375
Accounts receivable	498,931	569,096
Taxes receivable	55,442	107,289
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	168,469	139,669
Total current assets	1,234,637	881,834
Property and equipment, at cost	14,054,558	14,404,371
Accumulated depreciation	(2,572,331)	(2,318,220)
Property and equipment, net	11,482,227	12,086,151
Other assets	158,658	222,254
Total assets	12,875,522	13,190,239
Current liabilities
Current maturities of long-term debt	299,997
Accounts payable	221,077	261,012
Accrued payroll and related costs	81,364	91,487
Taxes payable	88,108	91,471
Interest payable	72,961	61,964
Other current liabilities	96,331	139,950
Total current liabilities	859,838	645,884
Long-term debt	4,188,904	4,869,020
Deferred income taxes	92,797	120,589
Other liabilities	319,512	335,964
Total liabilities	$ 5,461,051	$ 5,971,457
Commitments and contingencies
Total shareholder equity	$ 6,691,470	$ 6,496,478
Noncontrolling interests	723,001	722,304
Total equity	7,414,471	7,218,782	$ 9,155,484	$ 8,531,082
Total liabilities and equity	12,875,522	13,190,239
Consolidating Adjustments [Member]
Current assets
Short-term notes receivable from affiliates	(291,401)	(1,707,305)
Accounts receivable from affiliates	(5,531,022)	(7,060,506)
Total current assets	(5,822,423)	(8,767,811)
Notes receivable from affiliates	(7,569,654)	(7,108,395)
Investments in affiliates	(27,526,180)	(23,364,388)
Total assets	(40,918,257)	(39,240,594)
Current liabilities
Short-term notes payables from affiliates	(291,401)	(1,707,305)
Accounts payable to affiliates	(5,531,022)	(7,060,506)
Total current liabilities	(5,822,423)	(8,767,811)
Notes payable to affiliates	(7,569,654)	(7,108,395)
Total liabilities	$ (13,392,077)	$ (15,876,206)
Commitments and contingencies
Total shareholder equity	$ (27,089,922)	$ (22,961,169)
Noncontrolling interests	(436,258)	(403,219)
Total equity	(27,526,180)	(23,364,388)
Total liabilities and equity	$ (40,918,257)	$ (39,240,594)