Debt and Equity Transactions (Unaudited) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended				2 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended					1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 03, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Jul. 31, 2013 4% Convertible Senior Notes due 2017 [Member]	Jun. 03, 2013 4% Convertible Senior Notes due 2017 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 5.25% Convertible Senior Notes due 2013 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Bank Term Loan [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Bank Term Loan [Member]	Feb. 14, 2013 Bank Term Loan [Member]	Feb. 28, 2012 Senior Notes [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Senior Notes [Member]	Mar. 07, 2013 Senior Notes [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Senior Notes [Member] 2.375% Senior Notes due March 2018 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Notes [Member] 2.375% Senior Notes due March 2018 [Member]	Mar. 07, 2013 Senior Notes [Member] 2.375% Senior Notes due March 2018 [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Senior Notes [Member] 3.100% Senior Notes due March 2020 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Notes [Member] 3.100% Senior Notes due March 2020 [Member]	Mar. 07, 2013 Senior Notes [Member] 3.100% Senior Notes due March 2020 [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Senior Notes [Member] 3.875% Senior Notes due March 2023 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Notes [Member] 3.875% Senior Notes due March 2023 [Member]	Mar. 07, 2013 Senior Notes [Member] 3.875% Senior Notes due March 2023 [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Senior Notes [Member] 5.450% Senior Notes due March 2043 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Notes [Member] 5.450% Senior Notes due March 2043 [Member]	Mar. 07, 2013 Senior Notes [Member] 5.450% Senior Notes due March 2043 [Member]	Feb. 28, 2012 Senior Notes [Member] 1.40% Senior Notes due 2015 [Member]	Feb. 28, 2012 Senior Notes [Member] 2.15% Senior Notes due 2017 [Member]	Feb. 28, 2012 Senior Notes [Member] 3.55% Senior Notes Due 2022 [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Senior Notes [Member] 8.375% Senior Notes due 2017 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Senior Notes [Member] 8.375% Senior Notes due 2017 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Credit Facility [Domain] Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Feb. 14, 2013 Credit Facility [Domain] Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Line of Credit [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Bridge Loan [Member]	Feb. 14, 2013 Bridge Loan [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Option 1 [Member] Bank Term Loan [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Option 1 [Member] Credit Facility [Domain] Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Option 2 [Member] Bank Term Loan [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Option 2 [Member] Bank Term Loan [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Option 2 [Member] Credit Facility [Domain] Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Option 2 [Member] Credit Facility [Domain] Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 McMoRan Exploration Co [Member]	Jun. 03, 2013 McMoRan Exploration Co [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 McMoRan Exploration Co [Member] Senior Notes [Member] 11.875% Senior Notes due 2014 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 McMoRan Exploration Co [Member] Senior Notes [Member] 4% Convertible Senior Notes due 2017 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 McMoRan Exploration Co [Member] Senior Notes [Member] 5.25% Convertible Senior Notes due 2013 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Plains Exploration & Production Company [Member]	May 31, 2013 Plains Exploration & Production Company [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Plains Exploration & Production Company [Member] Senior Notes [Member]	May 31, 2013 Plains Exploration & Production Company [Member] Senior Notes [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Plains Exploration & Production Company [Member] Senior Notes [Member] 7.625% Senior Notes due 2018 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Plains Exploration & Production Company [Member] Senior Notes [Member] 6.125% Senior Notes due 2019 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Plains Exploration & Production Company [Member] Senior Notes [Member] 8.625% Senior Notes due 2019 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Plains Exploration & Production Company [Member] Senior Notes [Member] 7.625% Senior Notes due 2020 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Plains Exploration & Production Company [Member] Senior Notes [Member] 6.5% Senior Notes due 2020 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Plains Exploration & Production Company [Member] Senior Notes [Member] 6.625% Senior Notes due 2021 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Plains Exploration & Production Company [Member] Senior Notes [Member] 6.75% Senior Notes due 2022 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Plains Exploration & Production Company [Member] Senior Notes [Member] 6.875% Senior Notes due 2023 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Plains Exploration & Production Company [Member] Credit Facility [Domain]	Sep. 30, 2013 Plains Exploration & Production Company [Member] Credit Facility [Domain] Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Plains Exploration & Production Company [Member] Credit Facility [Domain] Five-year term Loan due 2017 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Plains Exploration & Production Company [Member] Credit Facility [Domain] Seven-Year Term Loan due 2019 [Member]
Extinguishment of Debt [Line Items]
Debt Conversion, Converted Instrument, Expiration or Due Date																																																						Jun. 15, 2016	Oct. 15, 2014	Apr. 01, 2015	Nov. 15, 2015	May 01, 2016	Feb. 01, 2017	Feb. 15, 2018
Long-term Debt, Gross	$ 21,123,000,000		$ 21,123,000,000			$ 3,527,000,000
Long-term Debt, Acquisition Financing	10,500,000,000		10,500,000,000
Repayments of Assumed Debt																																															209,000,000						415,000,000								3,865,000,000
Repayments of Other Debt			127,000,000
Debt Instrument, Agreement Date											Feb. 14, 2013			Mar. 07, 2013																			Feb. 14, 2013
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date																																	May 31, 2018
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Year Two, Percent												10.00%
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Year Three, Percent												15.00%
Long-term Debt, Maturities, Repayments of Principal in Year Four, Percent												20.00%
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date, Description										five years from the date of the first borrowing
Debt Instrument, Description of Variable Rate Basis																																						LIBOR	LIBOR	ABR		ABR
Debt Instrument, Basis Spread on Variable Rate																																						1.50%	1.50%		0.50%		0.50%
Debt Instrument, Face Amount												4,000,000,000			6,500,000,000			1,500,000,000			1,000,000,000			2,000,000,000			2,000,000,000	500,000,000	500,000,000	2,000,000,000							9,500,000,000								558,000,000					9,900,000,000		6,400,000,000
Term of Debt Agreement										5 years						5 years			7 years			10 years			30 years
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity																																		3,000,000,000	450,000,000
Amount of revolving credit facility available to subsidiary																																		500,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Amount Outstanding																																	0		0
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount																																	46,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Remaining Borrowing Capacity																																	3,000,000,000
Line Of Credit Facility Remaining Borrowing Capacity Available For Letters Of Credit																																	1,500,000,000
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate (percent)									5.25%								2.375%	2.375%		3.10%	3.10%		3.875%	3.875%		5.45%	5.45%	1.40%	2.15%	3.55%		8.375%														11.875%	4.00%	5.25%					7.625%	6.125%	8.625%	7.625%	6.50%	6.625%	6.75%	6.875%
Proceeds from Issuance of Long-term Debt											4,000,000,000		2,970,000,000	6,400,000,000			1,500,000,000			1,000,000,000			1,999,000,000			1,991,000,000
Noncash or Part Noncash Acquisition, Debt Assumed			7,100,000,000																																											314,000,000	237,000,000	69,000,000					415,000,000	823,000,000	451,000,000	339,000,000	1,658,000,000	663,000,000	1,118,000,000	1,695,000,000		1,469,000,000	750,000,000	1,250,000,000
Proceeds from Lines of Credit																																	200,000,000																												396,000,000
Proceeds from Other Debt			75,000,000
Proceeds from Issuance of Long-term Debt, Debt Assumed and Other Borrowings			25,939,000,000
Repayments of Lines of Credit																																	200,000,000
Debt Instrument, Frequency of Periodic Payment														March 15 and September 15
Debt Instrument, Date of First Required Payment														Sep. 15, 2013
Losses on early extinguishment of debt	0	0	(45,000,000)	(168,000,000)																												(168,000,000)				(45,000,000)
Losses on early extinguishment of debt, net of tax																																(149,000,000)				36,000,000
Debt Instrument, Redemption Date																															Mar. 14, 2012
Extinguishment of Debt, Amount																															3,000,000,000
Current portion of debt	70,000,000		70,000,000			2,000,000
Long-term debt, less current portion	21,053,000,000		21,053,000,000			3,525,000,000
Royalty Trust Units Issued, Conversion of Debt or Equity Instrument							16,300,000
Royalty Trust Units, Fair Value Disclosure					31,000,000			28,000,000
Liabilities, Fair Value Adjustment	683,000,000																																											62,000,000					762,000,000		716,000,000
Redemption to Principal Amount, Percent																							101.00%			101.00%																									35.00%
Redemption price percentage to principal amount																															104.553%
Convertible Debt, Fair Value Disclosures								237,000,000
Payments for Repurchase of Preferred Stock and Preference Stock			$ 227,000,000	$ 0			$ (209,000,000)