Environmental Liabilities and Expenditures (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2011
Environmental Liabilities and Expenditures
Environmental remediation reserves, current, included in accrued liabilities	$ 78
Environmental remediation reserves, noncurrent, included in deferred credits and other liabilities - other	285
Environmental remediation reserves.
Number of Sites	168
Environmental remediation reserves	363
Environmental reserves, exceeding $ ten million	10
Environmental reserves, exceeding $ ten million, number of sites	11
Environmental reserves, range between zero to $ one million site category, number of sites	119
Environmental reserves, range between zero to $ one million site category, lower limit	0
Environmental reserves, range between zero to $ one million site category, upper limit	1
Period of expending first half of environmental reserves (in years)	4
Period of expending second half of environmental reserves	Ten or more years
Environmental remediation additional loss range	375
NPL sites
Environmental remediation reserves.
Number of Sites	38
Environmental remediation reserves	55
Third-party sites
Environmental remediation reserves.
Number of Sites	80
Environmental remediation reserves	97
Occidental-operated sites
Environmental remediation reserves.
Number of Sites	21
Environmental remediation reserves	117
Closed or non-operated Occidental sites
Environmental remediation reserves.
Number of Sites	29
Environmental remediation reserves	$ 94