Organization and Basis of Presentation - Additional Information (Detail) $ in Millions			12 Months Ended
	May 30, 2014 shares	Nov. 22, 2013 GeographicMarket Vendor Country	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2015 shares
Basis Of Presentation And Organization [Line Items]
Number of geographical area covered | GeographicMarket		80
Number of vendors | Vendor		1,000
Number of countries distribution occur through vendors | Country		40
Common stock, shares outstanding			107,474,904	107,219,138
Prepaid and Other Current Assets [Member]
Basis Of Presentation And Organization [Line Items]
Deferred charge | $			$ 1
Separation [Member]
Basis Of Presentation And Organization [Line Items]
Spin-off description			In accordance with a separation and distribution agreement, the two companies were separated by NOV distributing to its stockholders 107,053,031 shares of common stock of the Company after the market closed on May 30, 2014. Each NOV stockholder received one share of NOW common stock for every four shares of NOV common stock held at the close of business on the record date of May 22, 2014 and not sold prior to close of business on May 30, 2014.
Common stock, shares outstanding	107,053,031
Ratio of common stock sharing	4