Contingencies and Commitments - Additional Information Narrative (Details) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			6 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	6 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	6 Months Ended				6 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012 acre	Sep. 30, 2012 Putative Class Action [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Misdemeanor [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Fair Value Amount Remianing [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Chesapeake Utica L L C [Member] well	Jun. 30, 2013 Chesapeake Utica L L C [Member] well	Jun. 30, 2013 Sundrop Fuels, Inc.	Jul. 31, 2011 Sundrop Fuels, Inc.	Dec. 31, 2011 Chesapeake Midstream Development, L.P	Jun. 30, 2013 Chesapeake Midstream Development, L.P	Dec. 31, 2012 Chesapeake Midstream Development, L.P Year of 2012 [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Chesapeake Midstream Development, L.P Year of 2013 [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Rigs	Jun. 30, 2013 Rigs Oilfield Services	Jun. 30, 2013 Equipment Rigs	Jun. 30, 2013 Equipment Maximum	Jun. 30, 2013 Equipment Minimum	Jun. 30, 2013 Compressor Leases Compressor	Jun. 30, 2013 Drilling Obligations
Commitments and Contingencies [Line Items]
Loss Contingency, Pending Claims, Number							3	3
Loss Contingency, Range of Possible Loss, Maximum		$ 37,500		$ 37,500
Loss Contingency, Range of Possible Loss, Mimimum		100,000		100,000
Equipment sold																		94					2,558
Master Lease Agreement Miinimum Term (in years)																		5 years					4 years
Master Lease Agreement Maximum Term (in years)																		10 years					10 years
Number of repurchased equipment																		28					246
Property Subject to or Available for Operating Lease, Number of Units																				15
Lease Term																					3 years	1 year
Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments Due																			260,000,000	116,000,000			363,000,000
Proceeds from Sale of Property, Plant, and Equipment														884,000,000
Minimum committed wells per year										90
Minimum committed wells per year, year one										270
Minimum committed wells per year, year two										540
Number of spud wells											290
Drilling carrying percentage, previous amount																								60.00%
Drilling carrying percentage, current amount																								45.00%
Other Commitment		59,000,000		59,000,000
Net Acreage Shortfall						13,500
Cash Payment for Shortfall						27,000,000
Guaranteed gross profit margin	10.00%
Investment in preferred stock												115,000,000	155,000,000
EBITDA minimum commitment amount																100,000,000	150,000,000
Gain (Loss) on Sale of Property Plant Equipment		109,000,000	0	158,000,000	2,000,000				14,000,000					27,000,000
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations before Income Taxes, Extraordinary Items, Noncontrolling Interest															$ 5,000,000