New Accounting Pronouncements (Notes)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015
New Accounting Pronouncements [Abstract]
New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Text Block]	New Accounting Pronouncements Standards adopted in 2015 Discontinued Operations On January 1, 2015, we adopted an accounting standards update issued by the FASB related to discontinued operations, which added criteria providing that only those disposals of a component of an entity or a group of components of an entity that represent a strategic shift in operations should be presented as discontinued operations. The update allows an entity to present a disposal as discontinued operations even when it has continuing cash flows and significant continuing involvement with the disposed component. The update also requires expanded disclosures for discontinued operations and individually significant components of an entity that does not qualify for discontinued operations reporting. The adoption of this update did not impact our consolidated financial statements. This update may have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements in connection with the anticipated divestitures related to the pending acquisition of Baker Hughes. Because we will continue operating similar businesses of Baker Hughes after the acquisition, the disposition of the Halliburton businesses discussed in Note 2 does not represent a strategic shift in our business. Accordingly, these businesses anticipated to be divested will not be presented as discontinued operations. Debt Issuance Costs In April 2015, the FASB issued an accounting standards update to simplify the presentation of debt issuance costs. The update requires that debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of that debt liability, consistent with debt discounts, as opposed to current presentation of an asset on the balance sheet. This update is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods within those fiscal years, and may be adopted earlier on a voluntary basis. We adopted this update in the fourth quarter of 2015 upon execution of our debt financing for the pending Baker Hughes acquisition. We applied the change retrospectively to January 1, 2014 for prior period balances of unamortized debt issuance costs, resulting in a $75 million reduction in other assets and long-term debt on our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2014. See Note 2 for further information about the pending acquisition and Note 8 for information about our debt issuance in the fourth quarter of 2015. Deferred Income Taxes In November 2015, the FASB issued an accounting standards update to simplify income tax accounting. The update requires that all deferred tax assets and liabilities be classified as noncurrent on the balance sheet instead of separating deferred taxes into current and noncurrent amounts. This update is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods within those fiscal years, and may be adopted earlier on a voluntary basis. We adopted this update as of December 31, 2015 and applied the change retrospectively to January 1, 2014 for prior period balances of deferred tax assets and liabilities, resulting in a $421 million reduction in total current assets and corresponding increase in other assets, along with a $17 million reduction in total current liabilities and corresponding increase in other liabilities on our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2014. Standards not yet adopted Revenue Recognition In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued a comprehensive new revenue recognition standard that will supersede existing revenue recognition guidance under United States generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The issuance of this guidance completes the joint effort by the FASB and the IASB to improve financial reporting by creating common revenue recognition guidance for U.S. GAAP and IFRS. The core principle of the new guidance is that a company should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The standard creates a five-step model that requires companies to exercise judgment when considering the terms of a contract and all relevant facts and circumstances. The standard allows for several transition methods: (a) a full retrospective adoption in which the standard is applied to all of the periods presented, or (b) a modified retrospective adoption in which the standard is applied only to the most current period presented in the financial statements, including additional disclosures of the standard’s application impact to individual financial statement line items. In August 2015, the FASB issued an accounting standards update for a one-year deferral of the revenue recognition standard's effective date for all entities, which changed the effectiveness to annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within that reporting period. We are currently evaluating this standard and our existing revenue recognition policies to determine which contracts in the scope of the guidance will be affected by the new requirements and what impact they would have on our consolidated financial statements upon adoption. We have not yet determined which transition method we will utilize upon adoption on the effective date. Consolidation In February 2015, the FASB issued an accounting standards update related to the consolidation analysis, which amends the guidelines for determining whether certain legal entities should be consolidated. This update eliminates the presumption that a general partner should consolidate a limited partnership and modifies the evaluation of whether limited partnerships are variable interest entities or voting interest entities. This update is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods within those fiscal years. We do not expect the adoption of this update to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. Inventory In July 2015, the FASB issued an accounting standards update to simplify the measurement of inventory, which requires inventory measured using the first in, first out (FIFO) or average cost methods to be subsequently measured at the lower of cost and net realizable value. Net realizable value is the estimated selling price in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable cost of completion, disposal, and transportation. Currently, these inventory methods are required to be subsequently measured at the lower of cost or market. Market could be replacement cost, net realizable value, or net realizable value less an approximately normal profit margin. This update will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within those fiscal years, and will be applied prospectively. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact that this update will have on our consolidated financial statements. Business Combinations In September 2015, the FASB issued an accounting standards update to simplify the accounting for measurement-period adjustments for an acquirer in a business combination. The update will require an acquirer to recognize any adjustments to provisional amounts of the initial accounting for a business combination with a corresponding adjustment to goodwill in the reporting period in which the adjustments are determined in the measurement period, as opposed to revising prior periods presented in financial statements. Thus, an acquirer shall adjust its financial statements as needed, including recognizing in its current-period earnings the full effect of changes in depreciation, amortization, or other income effects, by line item, if any, as a result of the change to the provisional amounts calculated as if the accounting had been completed at the acquisition date. This update is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods within those fiscal years. This update may have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements subsequent to the pending acquisition of Baker Hughes for any measurement-period adjustments after the initial accounting period. See Note 2 for further information about the pending acquisition.

New Accounting Pronouncements

Standards adopted in 2015

Discontinued Operations

On January 1, 2015, we adopted an accounting standards update issued by the FASB related to discontinued operations, which added criteria providing that only those disposals of a component of an entity or a group of components of an entity that represent a strategic shift in operations should be presented as discontinued operations. The update allows an entity to present a disposal as discontinued operations even when it has continuing cash flows and significant continuing involvement with the disposed component. The update also requires expanded disclosures for discontinued operations and individually significant components of an entity that does not qualify for discontinued operations reporting. The adoption of this update did not impact our consolidated financial statements. This update may have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements in connection with the anticipated divestitures related to the pending acquisition of Baker Hughes. Because we will continue operating similar businesses of Baker Hughes after the acquisition, the disposition of the Halliburton businesses discussed in Note 2 does not represent a strategic shift in our business. Accordingly, these businesses anticipated to be divested will not be presented as discontinued operations.

Debt Issuance Costs

In April 2015, the FASB issued an accounting standards update to simplify the presentation of debt issuance costs. The update requires that debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of that debt liability, consistent with debt discounts, as opposed to current presentation of an asset on the balance sheet. This update is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods within those fiscal years, and may be adopted earlier on a voluntary basis. We adopted this update in the fourth quarter of 2015 upon execution of our debt financing for the pending Baker Hughes acquisition. We applied the change retrospectively to January 1, 2014 for prior period balances of unamortized debt issuance costs, resulting in a $75 million reduction in other assets and long-term debt on our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2014. See Note 2 for further information about the pending acquisition and Note 8 for information about our debt issuance in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Deferred Income Taxes

In November 2015, the FASB issued an accounting standards update to simplify income tax accounting. The update requires that all deferred tax assets and liabilities be classified as noncurrent on the balance sheet instead of separating deferred taxes into current and noncurrent amounts. This update is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, and interim periods within those fiscal years, and may be adopted earlier on a voluntary basis. We adopted this update as of December 31, 2015 and applied the change retrospectively to January 1, 2014 for prior period balances of deferred tax assets and liabilities, resulting in a $421 million reduction in total current assets and corresponding increase in other assets, along with a $17 million reduction in total current liabilities and corresponding increase in other liabilities on our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2014.

Standards not yet adopted

Revenue Recognition

In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued a comprehensive new revenue recognition standard that will supersede existing revenue recognition guidance under United States generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The issuance of this guidance completes the joint effort by the FASB and the IASB to improve financial reporting by creating common revenue recognition guidance for U.S. GAAP and IFRS.

The core principle of the new guidance is that a company should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The standard creates a five-step model that requires companies to exercise judgment when considering the terms of a contract and all relevant facts and circumstances. The standard allows for several transition methods: (a) a full retrospective adoption in which the standard is applied to all of the periods presented, or (b) a modified retrospective adoption in which the standard is applied only to the most current period presented in the financial statements, including additional disclosures of the standard’s application impact to individual financial statement line items.

In August 2015, the FASB issued an accounting standards update for a one-year deferral of the revenue recognition standard's effective date for all entities, which changed the effectiveness to annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within that reporting period. We are currently evaluating this standard and our existing revenue recognition policies to determine which contracts in the scope of the guidance will be affected by the new requirements and what impact they would have on our consolidated financial statements upon adoption. We have not yet determined which transition method we will utilize upon adoption on the effective date.

Consolidation

In February 2015, the FASB issued an accounting standards update related to the consolidation analysis, which amends the guidelines for determining whether certain legal entities should be consolidated. This update eliminates the presumption that a general partner should consolidate a limited partnership and modifies the evaluation of whether limited partnerships are variable interest entities or voting interest entities. This update is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods within those fiscal years. We do not expect the adoption of this update to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.

Inventory

In July 2015, the FASB issued an accounting standards update to simplify the measurement of inventory, which requires inventory measured using the first in, first out (FIFO) or average cost methods to be subsequently measured at the lower of cost and net realizable value. Net realizable value is the estimated selling price in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable cost of completion, disposal, and transportation. Currently, these inventory methods are required to be subsequently measured at the lower of cost or market. Market could be replacement cost, net realizable value, or net realizable value less an approximately normal profit margin. This update will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within those fiscal years, and will be applied prospectively. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the impact that this update will have on our consolidated financial statements.

Business Combinations

In September 2015, the FASB issued an accounting standards update to simplify the accounting for measurement-period adjustments for an acquirer in a business combination. The update will require an acquirer to recognize any adjustments to provisional amounts of the initial accounting for a business combination with a corresponding adjustment to goodwill in the reporting period in which the adjustments are determined in the measurement period, as opposed to revising prior periods presented in financial statements. Thus, an acquirer shall adjust its financial statements as needed, including recognizing in its current-period earnings the full effect of changes in depreciation, amortization, or other income effects, by line item, if any, as a result of the change to the provisional amounts calculated as if the accounting had been completed at the acquisition date. This update is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015, and interim periods within those fiscal years. This update may have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements subsequent to the pending acquisition of Baker Hughes for any measurement-period adjustments after the initial accounting period. See Note 2 for further information about the pending acquisition.