Stockholders Equity Restricted Stock Stock Options and Noncontrolling Interests - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	2 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	1 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended							1 Months Ended
	May 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Sep. 30, 2012 Restricted stock	Sep. 30, 2012 Unvested Stock Options	Sep. 30, 2011 Unvested Stock Options	Sep. 30, 2012 Unvested Stock Options	Sep. 30, 2011 Unvested Stock Options	Sep. 30, 2011 Stock Options	Sep. 30, 2012 Stock Options	Dec. 31, 2011 Stock Options	Dec. 31, 2011 E&P USA	Dec. 31, 2011 CGAS Properties [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Chesapeake Cleveland Tonkawa L.L.C well acre	Sep. 30, 2012 Chesapeake Cleveland Tonkawa L.L.C	Sep. 30, 2012 Chesapeake Cleveland Tonkawa L.L.C well	Sep. 30, 2012 Chesapeake Cleveland Tonkawa L.L.C	Sep. 30, 2012 Chesapeake Cleveland Tonkawa L.L.C Minimum well	Sep. 30, 2012 Chesapeake Cleveland Tonkawa L.L.C Drilled Wells well	Sep. 30, 2012 Chesapeake Cleveland Tonkawa L.L.C Drilled Wells well	Oct. 31, 2011 Chesapeake Utica L.L.C acre	Dec. 31, 2011 Chesapeake Utica L.L.C well	Sep. 30, 2012 Chesapeake Utica L.L.C well	Sep. 30, 2012 Chesapeake Utica L.L.C well Country	Sep. 30, 2012 Chesapeake Utica L.L.C Utica Shale Leasehold	Sep. 30, 2012 Chesapeake Utica L.L.C Minimum well	Sep. 30, 2012 Chesapeake Utica L.L.C Drilled Wells well	Sep. 30, 2012 Chesapeake Utica L.L.C Drilled Wells well	May 31, 2012 Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust	Nov. 30, 2011 Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust	Sep. 30, 2012 Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust well acre	May 10, 2012 Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust	Dec. 31, 2011 Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust	Sep. 30, 2012 Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust Minimum	Sep. 30, 2012 Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust Maximum	Sep. 30, 2012 Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust Western Oklahoma well	Sep. 30, 2012 Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust Scenario, Actual	May 10, 2012 Cash Distribution [Member]	May 10, 2012 Subordinated Units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Chesapeake Midstream Development, L.P	Dec. 31, 2011 Cardinal Gas Service Properties, L.P.	Nov. 30, 2011 Common Stock Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust	Nov. 30, 2011 Subordinated Units [Member] Chesapeake Granite Wash Trust
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Aggregate intrinsic value of restricted stock vested		$ 150,000,000		$ 150,000,000
Employee Service Share-based Compensation, Nonvested Awards, Total Compensation Cost Not yet Recognized								356,000,000						0
Vesting period for non employee directors years				3 years				2 years 7 months 6 days
Recognized reductions in tax benefits									14,000,000	7,000,000	19,000,000	8,000,000	0	1,000,000	3,000,000
Acres of leasehold land																		245,000							700,000
Third-Party investors' contributions																		1,250,000,000								1,250,000,000
Number of preferred shares exchanged for cash																		1,250,000								1,250,000
Overriding royalty interest, percentage																		3.75%
Number of net wells																		1,000				867				1,500	1,500	1,500		1,300
Spacing for Wells Drilled		150		150
Amount allocated to ORRI																		225,000,000								300,000,000
Amount allocated to preferred shares																		1,025,000,000								950,000,000
Restricted cash		156,000,000		156,000,000		44,000,000													112,000,000	112,000,000	112,000,000						44,000,000	44,000,000
Preferred stock dividend rate percentage																				6.00%	6.00%							7.00%
Preferred stock per share																					$ 1,000							$ 1,000
Percentage of excess cash allocated to preferred shares																				75.00%	75.00%							70.00%
Number of oil wells committed to drill net, minimum																				25	0.25	37.5						50
Percentage of excess cash allocated to preferred shares if drilling commitment not met																				100.00%	100.00%							100.00%
Percentage of internal rate of return																				9.00%	9.00%							10.00%																	9.00%
Internal return on investment, multiplier																				1.35	1.35							1.4
Percentage of increase in internal rate of return, in the event redemption does not occur																				15.00%	15.00%
Redemption price and liquidation preference per preferred share (usd per share)																			$ 1,320	$ 1,320	$ 1,320						$ 1,340	$ 1,340
Number of net wells, minimum cumulative total																		1,000		300	300							250
Acre Spacing		160		160
Amount of excess cash distributed to third party investors, percentage																				100.00%	100.00%
Percentage of increase in internal rate required by investors at redemption																				3.00%	3.00%
Percentage of additional increase in internal rate required by investors at redemption upon failed obligations																				3.00%	3.00%
Percentage of increase in leasehold in which commitment to drill is not met																						500.00%							4.00%
Noncontrolling interests		2,364,000,000		2,364,000,000		1,337,000,000													1,015,000,000	1,015,000,000	1,015,000,000						950,000,000	950,000,000							365,000,000		380,000,000
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests		(41,000,000)	0	(131,000,000)	0														(19,000,000)		(38,000,000)						(22,000,000)	(66,000,000)							(28,000,000)
Number of development wells drilled																							17	57							12	48			48					118
Number of counties present in the leasehold land (Counties)																												13
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents, Noncurrent		167,000,000		167,000,000
Amount payable on each short of drilling commitment																												5,000,000
Percentage of excess cash allocated to common shares																25.00%												30.00%
Percentage of increase in internal rate of return, in the event redemption does not occur																												17.50%
Percentage of increase in internal rate of return in investment, in event redemption does not occur																												2.0
Utica ORRI Percentage		3.00%		3.00%
Common stock, shares issued (shares)		666,955,284	660,852,000	666,955,284	660,852,000	660,888,159	655,251,000																											23,000,000
Common stock, par value (usd per share)		$ 0.01		$ 0.01		$ 0.01																												$ 19
Number of units included in beneficial interests																																														12,062,500	11,687,500
Percentage of beneficial interest owned																																		51.00%
Common shares, outstanding																																		46,750,000
Percentage of proceeds from royalty interest conveyed to trust																																						50.00%	90.00%
Number of producing wells																																			69
Number of gross acres																																			45,400
Number of net acres																																			29,300
Maximum amount recoverable by trust under lien				263,000,000																																					156,000,000
Percentage of incentive distributions received				50.00%
Percentage of remaining cash available for distribution in excess of the incentive threshold				50.00%
Cash distribution declared by trust																																				27,000,000
Cash distribution declared by trust, per unit																																										$ 0.61	$ 0.48
Cash distribution by trust attributable to parent																																	13,000,000
Cash distribution by trust attributable to third pary	14,000,000
Amount of exchange contribution																5,000,000	2,000,000																											14,000,000
Percentage of outstanding membership units																																												66.00%
Proceeds from affiliates				$ 34,000,000		$ 7,000,000