Business Segments (Segment Reporting) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2016
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 4,310	$ 3,877	$ 11,362	$ 10,453
Production and delivery	2,802	2,529	7,497	7,984
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	418	643	1,257	1,937
Impairment of oil and gas properties	0	239	0	4,317
Selling, general and administrative expenses	106	110	366	408
Mining exploration and research expenses	27	13	61	46
Environmental obligations and shutdown costs (credits)	73	(3)	81	18
Net gain on sales of assets	(33)	(13)	(66)	(762)
Operating income (loss)	917	359	2,166	(3,495)
Interest expense, net	304	187	633	574
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	387	(114)	747	79
Total assets	37,327	41,400	37,327	41,400	$ 37,317
Capital expenditures	314	494	1,020	2,309
Oil and gas contract settlement payments			70	0
Assets, discontinued operations	549	5,100	549	5,100
Operating Segments | North America
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	97	227	290	567
Production and delivery	658	739	2,056	2,253
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	96	129	330	407
Impairment of oil and gas properties		0		0
Selling, general and administrative expenses	2	1	4	4
Mining exploration and research expenses	0	1	2	2
Environmental obligations and shutdown costs (credits)	0	0	0	0
Net gain on sales of assets	0	1	0	(576)
Operating income (loss)	349	213	956	1,190
Interest expense, net	1	1	3	3
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	0	0	0	0
Total assets	7,067	7,421	7,067	7,421
Capital expenditures	39	11	106	87
Operating Segments | South America
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	959	617	2,389	1,864
Production and delivery	759	424	1,695	1,240
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	134	134	392	402
Impairment of oil and gas properties		0		0
Selling, general and administrative expenses	2	2	7	6
Mining exploration and research expenses	0	0	0	0
Environmental obligations and shutdown costs (credits)	0	0	0	0
Net gain on sales of assets	0	0	0	0
Operating income (loss)	128	111	532	371
Interest expense, net	156	21	187	63
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	139	32	298	114
Total assets	10,446	10,690	10,446	10,690
Capital expenditures	20	39	65	332
Corporate And Eliminations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	442	674	1,261	1,828
Production and delivery	(753)	(516)	(2,324)	(991)
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	23	246	77	764
Impairment of oil and gas properties		239		4,317
Selling, general and administrative expenses	66	78	250	325
Mining exploration and research expenses	27	12	59	44
Environmental obligations and shutdown costs (credits)	73	(3)	81	18
Net gain on sales of assets	(33)	(14)	(66)	(186)
Operating income (loss)	(107)	(334)	(333)	(5,551)
Interest expense, net	141	162	429	497
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	14	(308)	10	(252)
Total assets	5,814	10,815	5,814	10,815
Capital expenditures	41	185	149	1,169
Restructuring Charges			5
Intersegment
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	0	0	0	0
Intersegment | North America
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	1,008	857	3,058	2,713
Intersegment | South America
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	64	54	237	155
Pt Smelting [Member] | Affiliated Entity [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	652	348	$ 1,400	912
Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Sale | Tenke Fungurume [Member] | Corporate And Eliminations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Capital expenditures		15		70
Pt Smelting [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Deferred Intercompany Profit, Percentage			25.00%
Morenci [Member] | Operating Segments | North America
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	57	115	$ 168	356
Production and delivery	244	275	772	913
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	42	51	138	170
Impairment of oil and gas properties		0		0
Selling, general and administrative expenses	1	1	2	2
Mining exploration and research expenses	0	0	0	0
Environmental obligations and shutdown costs (credits)	0	0	0	0
Net gain on sales of assets	0	1	0	(576)
Operating income (loss)	230	145	610	966
Interest expense, net	1	1	2	2
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	0	0	0	0
Total assets	2,844	2,881	2,844	2,881
Capital expenditures	26	6	78	71
Morenci [Member] | Intersegment | North America
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	460	358	1,354	1,119
Other Individually Immaterial Operating Segments [Member] | Operating Segments | North America
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	40	112	122	211
Production and delivery	414	464	1,284	1,340
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	54	78	192	237
Impairment of oil and gas properties		0		0
Selling, general and administrative expenses	1	0	2	2
Mining exploration and research expenses	0	1	2	2
Environmental obligations and shutdown costs (credits)	0	0	0	0
Net gain on sales of assets	0	0	0	0
Operating income (loss)	119	68	346	224
Interest expense, net	0	0	1	1
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	0	0	0	0
Total assets	4,223	4,540	4,223	4,540
Capital expenditures	13	5	28	16
Other Individually Immaterial Operating Segments [Member] | Operating Segments | South America
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	109	112	332	379
Production and delivery	76	91	245	313
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	18	25	60	83
Impairment of oil and gas properties		0		0
Selling, general and administrative expenses	0	1	0	1
Mining exploration and research expenses	0	0	0	0
Environmental obligations and shutdown costs (credits)	0	0	0	0
Net gain on sales of assets	0	0	0	0
Operating income (loss)	15	(5)	27	(18)
Interest expense, net	0	0	0	0
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	5	(4)	10	(12)
Total assets	1,595	1,551	1,595	1,551
Capital expenditures	3	1	5	3
Other Individually Immaterial Operating Segments [Member] | Intersegment | North America
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	548	499	1,704	1,594
Other Individually Immaterial Operating Segments [Member] | Intersegment | South America
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	0	0	0	0
Cerro Verde [Member] | Operating Segments | South America
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	850	505	2,057	1,485
Production and delivery	683	333	1,450	927
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	116	109	332	319
Impairment of oil and gas properties		0		0
Selling, general and administrative expenses	2	1	7	5
Mining exploration and research expenses	0	0	0	0
Environmental obligations and shutdown costs (credits)	0	0	0	0
Net gain on sales of assets	0	0	0	0
Operating income (loss)	113	116	505	389
Interest expense, net	156	21	187	63
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	134	36	288	126
Total assets	8,851	9,139	8,851	9,139
Capital expenditures	17	38	60	329
Cerro Verde [Member] | Intersegment | South America
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	64	54	237	155
Grasberg Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Capital expenditures			663	706
Grasberg Segment [Member] | Operating Segments | Indonesia
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	1,121	984	2,720	2,014
Production and delivery	406	478	1,233	1,228
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	136	110	372	284
Impairment of oil and gas properties		0		0
Selling, general and administrative expenses	32	24	92	60
Mining exploration and research expenses	0	0	0	0
Environmental obligations and shutdown costs (credits)	0	0	0	0
Net gain on sales of assets	0	0	0	0
Operating income (loss)	547	374	1,023	501
Interest expense, net	1	0	1	0
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	233	158	435	212
Total assets	11,100	9,718	11,100	9,718
Capital expenditures	206	253	663	706
Grasberg Segment [Member] | Intersegment | Indonesia
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	0	2	0	59
Molybdenum [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Capital expenditures			4	2
Molybdenum [Member] | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	0	0	0	0
Production and delivery	58	57	169	159
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	20	15	58	51
Impairment of oil and gas properties		0		0
Selling, general and administrative expenses	0	0	0	0
Mining exploration and research expenses	0	0	0	0
Environmental obligations and shutdown costs (credits)	0	0	0	0
Net gain on sales of assets	0	0	0	0
Operating income (loss)	(13)	(26)	(28)	(74)
Interest expense, net	0	0	0	0
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	0	0	0	0
Total assets	1,885	1,953	1,885	1,953
Capital expenditures	2	1	4	2
Molybdenum [Member] | Intersegment
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	65	46	199	136
Rod and Refining Segment [Member] | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	1,137	930	3,290	2,820
Production and delivery	1,141	931	3,299	2,820
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	2	2	7	7
Impairment of oil and gas properties		0		0
Selling, general and administrative expenses	0	0	0	0
Mining exploration and research expenses	0	0	0	0
Environmental obligations and shutdown costs (credits)	0	0	0	0
Net gain on sales of assets	0	0	0	0
Operating income (loss)	2	4	6	15
Interest expense, net	0	0	0	0
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	0	0	0	0
Total assets	264	238	264	238
Capital expenditures	1	0	3	1
Rod and Refining Segment [Member] | Intersegment
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	8	7	22	22
Atlantic Copper Smelting and Refining Segment [Member] | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	554	445	1,412	1,360
Production and delivery	533	416	1,369	1,275
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	7	7	21	22
Impairment of oil and gas properties		0		0
Selling, general and administrative expenses	4	5	13	13
Mining exploration and research expenses	0	0	0	0
Environmental obligations and shutdown costs (credits)	0	0	0	0
Net gain on sales of assets	0	0	0	0
Operating income (loss)	11	17	10	53
Interest expense, net	5	3	13	11
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	1	4	4	5
Total assets	751	565	751	565
Capital expenditures	5	5	30	12
Atlantic Copper Smelting and Refining Segment [Member] | Intersegment
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	1	0	1	3
Corporate And Eliminations [Member] | Corporate And Eliminations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues			(3,517)	(3,088)
Corporate And Eliminations [Member] | Intersegment
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	(1,146)	(966)
Oil and Gas Operations Segment [Member] | Operating Segments
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total assets	272	3,500	272	3,500
Oil and Gas Operations Segment [Member] | Corporate And Eliminations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Capital expenditures		160		1,100
Oil and gas drillship settlements, inventory adjustments and asset impairment		$ 49
Restructuring Charges				38
Oil and Gas idle rig credits (costs), inventory adjustments and asset impairments				$ 942
One-time Termination Benefits [Member] | Grasberg Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Production and delivery			112
Cerro Verde Royalty Dispute [Member] | Royalty Assessments [Member] | Cerro Verde [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	2
Cerro Verde Royalty Dispute [Member] | Royalty Assessments [Member] | Cerro Verde [Member] | Operating Segments | South America
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Production and delivery	216		216
Interest expense, net	141		141
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	$ 2		$ 2