Derivative contingent settlement period.

No definition available.

Name:	ne_DerivativeContingentSettlementPeriod
Namespace Prefix:	ne_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Forward contracts settling in remainder of current year as percent of forecasted local currency requirements.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ne_ForwardContractsSettlingInRemainderOfCurrentYearAsPercentOfForecastedLocalCurrencyRequirements
Namespace Prefix:	ne_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Non designated derivatives contingent payments.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ne_NonDesignatedDerivativesContingentPayments
Namespace Prefix:	ne_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number Of Contingent Payments

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ne_NumberOfContingentPayments
Namespace Prefix:	ne_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Revenue, Oil and Gas Services, Contingent Payment Fair Value

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	ne_RevenueOilandGasServicesContingentPaymentFairValue
Namespace Prefix:	ne_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Accumulated change, net of tax, in accumulated gains and losses from derivative instruments designated and qualifying as the effective portion of cash flow hedges. Includes an entity's share of an equity investee's Increase or Decrease in deferred hedging gains or losses.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 220
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 10A
-Subparagraph (d)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84228862&loc=SL7669646-108580

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 220
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 11
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84228862&loc=d3e637-108580

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 220
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 14A
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84228862&loc=SL7669686-108580

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 220
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 14
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84228862&loc=d3e681-108580

Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 815
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35736893&loc=d3e80784-113994

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeLossCumulativeChangesInNetGainLossFromCashFlowHedgesEffectNetOfTax
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Nominal or face amount used to calculate payments on the derivative asset.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 815
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1A
-Subparagraph (d)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84234895&loc=SL5579245-113959

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 815
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1B
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=84234895&loc=SL5580258-113959

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeAssetNotionalAmount
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Specified interest rate, security price, commodity price, foreign exchange rate, index of prices or rates for a derivative contract measured in volume but not the derivative contract itself.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_UnderlyingDerivativeVolume
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	us-types:perUnitItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_TypeOfArrangementAxis=ne_FreeportMcMoRanIncMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=ne_NobleCorporationMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AverageSalesPriceAndProductionCostsPerUnitOfProductionProductionTypeAxis=ne_CrudeOilAveragePriceFiftyDollarPerBarrelAtWestTexasIntermediateMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AverageSalesPriceAndProductionCostsPerUnitOfProductionProductionTypeAxis=ne_CrudeOilAveragePriceSixtyFiveDollarPerBarrelAtWestTexasIntermediateMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_ForwardContractsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeInstrumentRiskAxis=us-gaap_PriceRiskDerivativeMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities - Additional Information (Detail) $ in Millions	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($) payment	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($) $ / bbl
Derivative [Line Items]
Number of contingent payments \| payment	2
Percentage of forecasted local currency requirements of forward contract, remainder of 2016	70.00%
FCX settlement [Member]
Derivative [Line Items]
Derivative contingent settlement period		12 months
FCX settlement [Member] \| Noble Corp [Member]
Derivative [Line Items]
Estimated fair value of contingent payments		$ 0.0
FCX settlement [Member] \| WTI Crude Oil Averages Price More than $50 Per Barrel [Member]
Derivative [Line Items]
Crude oil average price \| $ / bbl		50
Non designated derivatives contingent payment		$ 25.0
FCX settlement [Member] \| WTI Crude Oil Averages Price More than $65 Per Barrel [Member]
Derivative [Line Items]
Crude oil average price \| $ / bbl		65
Non designated derivatives contingent payment		$ 50.0
Forward Contracts [Member]
Derivative [Line Items]
Total unrealized loss related to forward contracts and recorded as part of "Accumulated other comprehensive loss"	$ 0.7
Price Risk Derivative [Member]
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional amount of forward contracts outstanding	$ 10.1