Bank Credit Facilities (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended							9 Months Ended							9 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		9 Months Ended							9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012 bank_credit_facility	Sep. 30, 2012 bank_credit_facility	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012 Begin Covenant Ratio	Sep. 30, 2012 Ending Q3 2012 Covenant Ratio	Sep. 30, 2012 Q4 2013 Covenant Ratio	Sep. 30, 2012 Q4 2012 Covenant Ratio	Sep. 30, 2012 Q1 2013 Covenant Ratio	Sep. 30, 2012 Q2 2013 Covenant Ratio	Sep. 30, 2012 Q3 2013 Covenant Ratio	Sep. 30, 2012 Chesapeake Oilfield Operating, LLC.	Sep. 30, 2012 Corporate revolving bank credit facility		Sep. 30, 2012 Oilfield Services Revolving Credit Facility		Sep. 30, 2012 Midstream Revolving Bank Credit Facility	Sep. 30, 2012 In Excess Oilfield Services Revolving Credit Facility	Sep. 30, 2012 Maximum	Sep. 30, 2012 Maximum Chesapeake Oilfield Operating, LLC.	Sep. 30, 2012 Maximum Corporate revolving bank credit facility	May 31, 2012 Maximum Oilfield Services Revolving Credit Facility	Sep. 30, 2012 Minimum	Sep. 30, 2012 Minimum Chesapeake Oilfield Operating, LLC.	Sep. 30, 2012 Minimum Corporate revolving bank credit facility	Sep. 30, 2012 Corporate revolving bank credit facility	Dec. 31, 2011 Corporate revolving bank credit facility	Sep. 30, 2012 Term Loan	May 31, 2012 Term Loan	Sep. 30, 2012 Term Loan Maximum	Sep. 30, 2012 Union Bank N.A. Corporate revolving bank credit facility	Sep. 30, 2012 Bank Of America N.A. Chesapeake Oilfield Operating, LLC.
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Number of revolving bank credit facilities used	2	2
Facility structure												Senior secured revolving	[1]	Senior secured revolving	[2]
Maturity date												December 2015	[1]	November 2016	[2]
Borrowing capacity											$ 500,000,000	$ 4,000,000,000	[1]	$ 500,000,000	[2]										$ 4,000,000,000
Amount outstanding as of September 30, 2012												1,785,000,000	[1]	336,000,000	[2]	600,000,000	15,000,000
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount												31,000,000	[1]	0
Interest Rate In Addition To Federal Funds Rate		0.50%
Debt Instrument Interest Rate In Addition To Eurodollar Rate																											1.00%	1.00%
Debt Instrument, Covenant Description					6.00	4.00	5.00	4.75	4.5	4.25
Increase to Applicable Margin, Credit Facility	0	0
Long-term Debt, Gross	16,218,000,000	16,218,000,000	10,626,000,000																0	125,000,000					1,785,000,000	1,719,000,000			125,000,000
Line Of Credit Facility Extended Borrowing Capacity											900,000,000
Margin rate range, minimum												1.50%																		0.50%	1.00%
Margin rate range, maximum												2.25%																		1.25%	1.75%
Percentage above LIBOR rate																			2.75%				2.00%
Line of credit facility, commitment fee percentage												0.50%							0.50%		0.50%		0.375%
Acceleration of Principal Amount Due, Credit Facility	50,000,000	50,000,000
Minimum Covenant Ratio				4
Credit Facility Borrowing Capacity Margin	50.00%
Credit Facility Lender Fee	0.05%
Additional Interest Payment, Credit Facility	2,000,000	2,000,000
Minimum Collateral Value, Credit Facility	75,000,000	75,000,000
Aggregate principal amount																		$ 75,000,000				$ 50,000,000		$ 50,000,000

[1] Borrower is Chesapeake Exploration, L.L.C.

[2] Borrower is COO.