Leases (Summary of Lease Term and Discount Rate) (Details)	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Leases [Abstract]
Weighted average remaining lease term, Operating leases	11 years
Weighted average remaining lease term, Finance leases	10 years
Weighted average discount rate, Operating leases	5.07%
Weighted average discount rate, Finance leases	4.80%

Weighted average remaining lease term for finance lease, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	mur_FinanceLeaseWeightedAverageRemainingLeaseTerm1
Namespace Prefix:	mur_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Weighted average remaining lease term for operating lease, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	mur_OperatingLeaseWeightedAverageRemainingLeaseTerm1
Namespace Prefix:	mur_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Weighted average discount rate for finance lease calculated at point in time.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (g)(4)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77888426&loc=SL77918686-209980

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 842
-SubTopic 20
-Section 55
-Paragraph 53
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=77888399&loc=SL77918982-209971

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinanceLeaseWeightedAverageDiscountRatePercent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

- Definition

Weighted average discount rate for operating lease calculated at point in time.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OperatingLeaseWeightedAverageDiscountRatePercent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant