Document And Entity Information (USD $) In Billions, except Share data	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011	Oct. 06, 2011	Jun. 30, 2010
Entity Registrant Name	NOBLE ENERGY INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000072207
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Public Float			$ 10.4
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		176,645,583
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2011
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2011

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The type of document being provided (such as 10-K, 10-Q, N-1A, etc). The document type should be limited to the same value as the supporting SEC submission type. The acceptable values are as follows: S-1, S-3, S-4, S-11, F-1, F-3, F-4, F-9, F-10, 6-K, 8-K, 10, 10-K, 10-Q, 20-F, 40-F, N-1A, 485BPOS, NCSR, N-Q, and Other.

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

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