Derivatives (Details)	Dec. 31, 2013 ft3	Nov. 30, 2012 Natural Gas - Swaps through March 2014 (in cubic feet) ft3
Cash-Flow Hedges
Daily volume		50,000,000
Weighted-average strike price (in dollars per cubic foot)		0.00430
Natural gas held in storage (in cubic feet)	11,000,000,000
Forecast sale of natural gas from storage designated as cash-flow hedges (in cubic feet)	13,000,000,000

- Definition

Aggregate notional amount of derivative expressed in nonmonetary units. For example, the number of barrels specified in a fuel oil forward purchase contract.

+ References

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

-Publisher SEC

-Name Regulation S-X (SX)

-Number 210

-Article 12

-Section 13

-Sentence Column B

+ Details

Name:	invest_DerivativeNonmonetaryNotionalAmount
Namespace Prefix:	invest_
Data Type:	xbrli:decimalItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

This element represents the forecast sales volume of natural gas from storage in billion cubic feet designated as cash flow hedges.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	oxy_DesignatedForecastSaleOfNaturalGasAsCashFlowHedges
Namespace Prefix:	oxy_
Data Type:	num:volumeItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The amount of natural gas held in storage, in billion cubic feet.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	oxy_NaturalGasHeldInStorage
Namespace Prefix:	oxy_
Data Type:	num:volumeItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Weighted average strike price related to a group of swap derivatives.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	oxy_SwapAverageStrikePrice
Namespace Prefix:	oxy_
Data Type:	xbrli:decimalItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Details

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