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Indebtedness (Schedule of Debt) (Details) (USD $)
Mar. 31, 2015
Mar. 31, 2014
Debt Instrument [Line Items]    
Short-term debt $ 325,871,000us-gaap_ShortTermBorrowings $ 387,866,000us-gaap_ShortTermBorrowings
Long-term debt 1,998,772,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt 2,107,096,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
Less current portion of long-term debt (250,110,000)us-gaap_LongTermDebtCurrent (400,322,000)us-gaap_LongTermDebtCurrent
Long-term debt, excluding current portion 1,748,662,000us-gaap_LongTermDebtNoncurrent 1,706,774,000us-gaap_LongTermDebtNoncurrent
Total debt 2,324,643,000us-gaap_DebtLongtermAndShorttermCombinedAmount 2,494,962,000us-gaap_DebtLongtermAndShorttermCombinedAmount
Money market loans [Member]    
Debt Instrument [Line Items]    
Short-term debt 0us-gaap_ShortTermBorrowings
/ us-gaap_ShortTermDebtTypeAxis
= us-gaap_LoansPayableMember
0us-gaap_ShortTermBorrowings
/ us-gaap_ShortTermDebtTypeAxis
= us-gaap_LoansPayableMember
Commercial paper [Member]    
Debt Instrument [Line Items]    
Short-term debt 325,871,000us-gaap_ShortTermBorrowings
/ us-gaap_ShortTermDebtTypeAxis
= us-gaap_CommercialPaperMember
387,866,000us-gaap_ShortTermBorrowings
/ us-gaap_ShortTermDebtTypeAxis
= us-gaap_CommercialPaperMember
Trade receivables securitization [Member]    
Debt Instrument [Line Items]    
Long-term debt 295,000,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= arg_TradeReceivablesSecuritizationMember
295,000,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= arg_TradeReceivablesSecuritizationMember
Revolving credit borrowings - U.S. [Member]    
Debt Instrument [Line Items]    
Long-term debt 0us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= arg_RevolvingCreditBorrowingsUSMember
0us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= arg_RevolvingCreditBorrowingsUSMember
Revolving credit borrowings - Multi-currency [Member]    
Debt Instrument [Line Items]    
Long-term debt 48,332,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= arg_RevolvingCreditBorrowingsMultiCurrencyMember
54,230,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= arg_RevolvingCreditBorrowingsMultiCurrencyMember
Revolving credit borrowings - France [Member]    
Debt Instrument [Line Items]    
Long-term debt 6,277,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= arg_RevolvingCreditBorrowingsFranceMember
8,056,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= arg_RevolvingCreditBorrowingsFranceMember
Senior notes, net [Member]    
Debt Instrument [Line Items]    
Long-term debt 1,648,608,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= us-gaap_SeniorNotesMember
1,748,774,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= us-gaap_SeniorNotesMember
Other long-term debt [Member]    
Debt Instrument [Line Items]    
Long-term debt $ 555,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= arg_OtherLongTermDebtMember
$ 1,036,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt
/ us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis
= arg_OtherLongTermDebtMember