Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Purchase and Sales Agreement, Land Sold

No definition available.

Name:	nbl_DisposalGroupIncludingDiscontinuedOperationPurchaseandSalesAgreementLandSold
Namespace Prefix:	nbl_
Data Type:	num:areaItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operations, Purchase And Sales Agreement, Land Exchanged

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nbl_DisposalGroupIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsPurchaseAndSalesAgreementLandExchanged
Namespace Prefix:	nbl_
Data Type:	num:areaItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operations, Purchase and Sale Agreement, Consideration Expected

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nbl_DisposalGroupIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsPurchaseandSaleAgreementConsiderationExpected
Namespace Prefix:	nbl_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Disposal Group, Not Discontinued Operation, Additional Percentage Purchase Option

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nbl_DisposalGroupNotDiscontinuedOperationAdditionalPercentagePurchaseOption
Namespace Prefix:	nbl_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Disposal Group, Not Discontinued Operation, Percentage Sold

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nbl_DisposalGroupNotDiscontinuedOperationPercentageSold
Namespace Prefix:	nbl_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount classified as accounts, notes and loans receivable attributable to disposal group held for sale or disposed of.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64862545&loc=d3e2941-110230

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 11
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65878427&loc=SL51721533-107759

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5B
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64827811&loc=SL51721673-107760

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 10
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65878427&loc=d3e1107-107759

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DisposalGroupIncludingDiscontinuedOperationAccountsNotesAndLoansReceivableNet
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount classified as cash and cash equivalents attributable to disposal group held for sale or disposed of.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64862545&loc=d3e2941-110230

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Glossary Cash Equivalents
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6507016

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 10
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65878427&loc=d3e1107-107759

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 11
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65878427&loc=SL51721533-107759

Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Glossary Cash
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6506951

Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5B
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64827811&loc=SL51721673-107760

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DisposalGroupIncludingDiscontinuedOperationCashAndCashEquivalents
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of consideration received or receivable for the disposal of assets and liabilities, including discontinued operation.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DisposalGroupIncludingDiscontinuedOperationConsideration
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of gain (loss) on sale or disposal of proven and unproven oil and gas properties.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66902209&loc=d3e3602-108585

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GainLossOnSaleOfOilAndGasProperty
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

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

- Definition

The cash inflow to dispose of long-lived, physical assets and mineral interests in oil and gas properties used for normal oil and gas operations.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Glossary Investing Activities
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6516133

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 12
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66902209&loc=d3e3179-108585

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ProceedsFromSaleOfOilAndGasPropertyAndEquipment
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeStatementBalanceSheetAndAdditionalDisclosuresByDisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsAxis=nbl_BowdoinpropertyNorthernMontanaMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeStatementBalanceSheetAndAdditionalDisclosuresByDisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsAxis=nbl_AlonAAndAlonCMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeStatementBalanceSheetAndAdditionalDisclosuresByDisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsAxis=nbl_CyprusBlock12Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeStatementBalanceSheetAndAdditionalDisclosuresByDisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsAxis=nbl_CertainUSCrudeOilAndNaturalGasPropertiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeStatementBalanceSheetAndAdditionalDisclosuresByDisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsAxis=nbl_WeldCountyColoradoMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeStatementBalanceSheetAndAdditionalDisclosuresByDisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsAxis=nbl_ProducingandUndevelopedNetAcresintheDJBasinMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeStatementBalanceSheetAndAdditionalDisclosuresByDisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsAxis=nbl_WellsRanchDevelopmentAreaMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeStatementBalanceSheetAndAdditionalDisclosuresByDisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsAxis=nbl_BroncoDevelopmentAreaMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_SubsequentEventTypeAxis=us-gaap_SubsequentEventMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeStatementBalanceSheetAndAdditionalDisclosuresByDisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsAxis=nbl_TamarFieldOffshoreIsraelMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Divestitures (Details) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
Divestitures (Details) $ in Millions	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($) a	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Jul. 04, 2016 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Nov. 20, 2015 USD ($)
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Percentage of divestiture farmed out	35.00%		35.00%				35.00%
Sales Proceeds			$ 767	$ 151
Gain (Loss) on Disposition of Oil and Gas Property	$ (23)	$ 1	(23)	$ 0
Bowdoin property, Northern Montana [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Sales Proceeds			43
Gain (Loss) on Disposition of Oil and Gas Property			23
Alon A And Alon C [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Total transaction value								$ 73
Percentage of divestiture farmed out							47.00%
Cyprus Block 12 [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Total transaction value							$ 171
Proceeds received from farm-out agreement						$ 131
Consideration subject to post-close adjustments						$ 40
Certain US Crude Oil And Natural Gas Properties [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Sales Proceeds			20
Weld County, Colorado [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Purchase and sales agreement, consideration	$ 505		505
Producing and Undeveloped Net Acres in the DJ Basin [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Sales Proceeds			$ 486
Purchase and sales agreement, area \| a			33,100
Wells Ranch Development Area [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operations, Purchase And Sales Agreement, Land Exchanged \| a			11,700
Bronco Development Area [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Purchase and sales agreement, area \| a			13,500
Subsequent Event [Member] \| Tamar Field, Offshore Israel [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Percentage of divestiture farmed out					3.00%
Purchase and sales agreement, consideration					$ 369
Disposal Group, Not Discontinued Operation, Additional Percentage Purchase Option					1.00%