Disputes, Litigation and Contingencies	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]
Disputes, Litigation and Contingencies	Disputes, Litigation and Contingencies Shareholder Litigation In 2010, three shareholder derivative actions were filed, purportedly on behalf of the Company, asserting breach of duty and other claims against certain then current and former officers and directors of the Company related to the United Nations oil-for-food program governing sales of goods into Iraq, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 and trade sanctions related to the U.S. government investigations disclosed in our SEC filings since 2007. Those shareholder derivative cases were filed in Harris County, Texas state court and consolidated under the caption Neff v. Brady, et al., No. 2010040764 (collectively referred to as the “Neff Case”). Other shareholder demand letters covering the same subject matter were received by the Company in early 2014, and a fourth shareholder derivative action was filed, purportedly on behalf of the Company, also asserting breach of duty and other claims against certain then current and former officers and directors of the Company related to the same subject matter as the Neff Case. That case, captioned Erste-Sparinvest KAG v. Duroc-Danner, et al., No. 201420933 (Harris County, Texas) was consolidated into the Neff Case in September 2014. A motion to dismiss was granted May 15, 2015, and an appeal was filed on June 15, 2015. Following briefing and oral argument, on June 29, 2017, the Texas Court of Appeals denied in part and granted in part the shareholders’ appeal. The Court ruled that the shareholders lacked standing to bring claims that arose prior to the Company’s redomestication to Switzerland in 2009 and upheld the dismissal of those claims. The Court reversed as premature the trial court’s dismissal of claims arising after the redomestication and remanded to the trial court for further proceedings. On February 1, 2018, the individual defendants and nominal defendant Weatherford filed a motion for summary judgment on the remaining claims in the case. On February 13, 2018, the trial court dismissed with prejudice certain directors for lack of jurisdiction. The plaintiffs have appealed the jurisdictional ruling and the parties have jointly moved for a stay of the case during the pendency of the appeal. We cannot reliably predict the outcome of the remaining claims, including the amount of any possible loss. Rapid Completions and Packers Plus Litigation Several subsidiaries of the Company are defendants in a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Rapid Completions LLC (“RC”) in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on July 31, 2015. RC claims that we and other defendants are liable for infringement of seven U.S. patents related to specific downhole completion equipment and the methods of using such equipment. These patents have been assigned to Packers Plus Energy Services, Inc., a Canadian corporation (“Packers Plus”), and purportedly exclusively licensed to RC. RC is seeking a permanent injunction against further alleged infringement, unspecified damages for infringement, supplemental and enhanced damages, and additional relief such as attorneys’ fees. The Company has filed a counterclaim against Packers Plus, seeking declarations of non-infringement, invalidity, and unenforceability of the four patents that remain asserted against the Company on the grounds of inequitable conduct. The Company is seeking attorneys’ fees and costs incurred in the lawsuit. The litigation was stayed, pending resolution of inter partes reviews (“IPR”) of each of the four patents before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). On February 22, 2018, the PTAB issued IPR decisions finding that all of the claims of the ‘505, ‘634, and ‘774 patents that were challenged by the Company in the IPRs are invalid. On October 16, 2018, the PTAB issued an IPR decision finding that all of the claims of the ‘501 patent are invalid. RC has appealed the decisions of the PTAB. On October 14, 2015, Packers Plus and RC filed suit in Federal Court in Toronto, Canada against the Company and certain subsidiaries alleging infringement of a related Canadian patent and seeking unspecified damages and an accounting of the Company’s profits. Trial on the validity of the Canadian patent was completed in March 2017. On November 3, 2017, the Federal Court issued its decision, wherein it concluded that the defendants proved that the patent-in-suit was invalid and dismissed Packers Plus and RC’s claims of infringement. On January 5, 2018, Packers Plus and RC filed their Notice of Appeal. The Company filed its responsive brief in June 2018. The hearing of the appeal took place on February 6, 2019, and on April 24, 2019, the appeal was dismissed in favor of Weatherford. At this time, we believe it is unlikely that we will incur a loss related to the patent infringement matters, and therefore we have not accrued any loss provisions related to these matters. If one or more negative outcomes were to occur in any case, the impact to our financial position, results of operations, or cash flows could be material. Other Disputes and Litigation In addition, we have certain claims, disputes and pending litigation for which we do not believe a negative outcome is probable or for which we can only estimate a range of liability. It is possible, however, that an unexpected judgment could be rendered against us, or we could decide to resolve a case or cases, that would result in liability that could be uninsured and beyond the amounts we currently have reserved and in some cases those losses could be material. If one or more negative outcomes were to occur relative to these matters, the aggregate impact to our financial condition could be material. Accrued litigation and settlements recorded in “Other Current Liabilities” on the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018 were $32 million and $29 million, respectively. Other Contingencies We have minimum purchase commitments related to a supply contract and maintain a liability at March 31, 2019 for expected penalties to be paid of $24 million in “Other Current Liabilities” on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. Our minimum obligation for these commitments at December 31, 2018 was $46 million, of which $22 million was recorded in “Other Current Liabilities” and $24 million was recorded in “Other Non-Current Liabilities” on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Disputes, Litigation and Contingencies

Shareholder Litigation

In 2010, three shareholder derivative actions were filed, purportedly on behalf of the Company, asserting breach of duty and other claims against certain then current and former officers and directors of the Company related to the United Nations oil-for-food program governing sales of goods into Iraq, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 and trade sanctions related to the U.S. government investigations disclosed in our SEC filings since 2007. Those shareholder derivative cases were filed in Harris County, Texas state court and consolidated under the caption Neff v. Brady, et al., No. 2010040764 (collectively referred to as the “Neff Case”). Other shareholder demand letters covering the same subject matter were received by the Company in early 2014, and a fourth shareholder derivative action was filed, purportedly on behalf of the Company, also asserting breach of duty and other claims against certain then current and former officers and directors of the Company related to the same subject matter as the Neff Case. That case, captioned Erste-Sparinvest KAG v. Duroc-Danner, et al., No. 201420933 (Harris County, Texas) was consolidated into the Neff Case in September 2014. A motion to dismiss was granted May 15, 2015, and an appeal was filed on June 15, 2015. Following briefing and oral argument, on June 29, 2017, the Texas Court of Appeals denied in part and granted in part the shareholders’ appeal. The Court ruled that the shareholders lacked standing to bring claims that arose prior to the Company’s redomestication to Switzerland in 2009 and upheld the dismissal of those claims. The Court reversed as premature the trial court’s dismissal of claims arising after the redomestication and remanded to the trial court for further proceedings. On February 1, 2018, the individual defendants and nominal defendant Weatherford filed a motion for summary judgment on the remaining claims in the case. On February 13, 2018, the trial court dismissed with prejudice certain directors for lack of jurisdiction. The plaintiffs have appealed the jurisdictional ruling and the parties have jointly moved for a stay of the case during the pendency of the appeal. We cannot reliably predict the outcome of the remaining claims, including the amount of any possible loss.

Rapid Completions and Packers Plus Litigation

Several subsidiaries of the Company are defendants in a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Rapid Completions LLC (“RC”) in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on July 31, 2015. RC claims that we and other defendants are liable for infringement of seven U.S. patents related to specific downhole completion equipment and the methods of using such equipment. These patents have been assigned to Packers Plus Energy Services, Inc., a Canadian corporation (“Packers Plus”), and purportedly exclusively licensed to RC. RC is seeking a permanent injunction against further alleged infringement, unspecified damages for infringement, supplemental and enhanced damages, and additional relief such as attorneys’ fees. The Company has filed a counterclaim against Packers Plus, seeking declarations of non-infringement, invalidity, and unenforceability of the four patents that remain asserted against the Company on the grounds of inequitable conduct. The Company is seeking attorneys’ fees and costs incurred in the lawsuit. The litigation was stayed, pending resolution of inter partes reviews (“IPR”) of each of the four patents before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). On February 22, 2018, the PTAB issued IPR decisions finding that all of the claims of the ‘505, ‘634, and ‘774 patents that were challenged by the Company in the IPRs are invalid. On October 16, 2018, the PTAB issued an IPR decision finding that all of the claims of the ‘501 patent are invalid. RC has appealed the decisions of the PTAB.

On October 14, 2015, Packers Plus and RC filed suit in Federal Court in Toronto, Canada against the Company and certain subsidiaries alleging infringement of a related Canadian patent and seeking unspecified damages and an accounting of the Company’s profits. Trial on the validity of the Canadian patent was completed in March 2017. On November 3, 2017, the Federal Court issued its decision, wherein it concluded that the defendants proved that the patent-in-suit was invalid and dismissed Packers Plus and RC’s claims of infringement. On January 5, 2018, Packers Plus and RC filed their Notice of Appeal. The Company filed its responsive brief in June 2018. The hearing of the appeal took place on February 6, 2019, and on April 24, 2019, the appeal was dismissed in favor of Weatherford.

At this time, we believe it is unlikely that we will incur a loss related to the patent infringement matters, and therefore we have not accrued any loss provisions related to these matters. If one or more negative outcomes were to occur in any case, the impact to our financial position, results of operations, or cash flows could be material.

Other Disputes and Litigation

In addition, we have certain claims, disputes and pending litigation for which we do not believe a negative outcome is probable or for which we can only estimate a range of liability. It is possible, however, that an unexpected judgment could be rendered against us, or we could decide to resolve a case or cases, that would result in liability that could be uninsured and beyond the amounts we currently have reserved and in some cases those losses could be material. If one or more negative outcomes were to occur relative to these matters, the aggregate impact to our financial condition could be material.

Accrued litigation and settlements recorded in “Other Current Liabilities” on the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018 were $32 million and $29 million, respectively.

Other Contingencies

We have minimum purchase commitments related to a supply contract and maintain a liability at March 31, 2019 for expected penalties to be paid of $24 million in “Other Current Liabilities” on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. Our minimum obligation for these commitments at December 31, 2018 was $46 million, of which $22 million was recorded in “Other Current Liabilities” and $24 million was recorded in “Other Non-Current Liabilities” on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.