Derivative and Hedging Activities - Natural Gas and Oil Sales Table (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Gains (losses) on undesignated oil and natural gas derivatives	$ 0	$ 10
Total oil, natural gas and NGL revenues	993	1,543
Oil And Gas Exploration And Production [Member]
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Oil, natural gas and NGL revenues excluding derivatives	812	1,382
Gains (losses) on undesignated oil and natural gas derivatives	192	178
Losses on terminated cash flow hedges	$ (11)	$ (17)

Oil, natural gas and NGL revenues excluding derivatives

No definition available.

Name:	chk_OilnaturalgasandNGLrevenuesexcludingderivatives
Namespace Prefix:	chk_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeInstrumentsGainLossLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of realized and unrealized gain (loss) of derivative instruments not designated or qualifying as hedging instruments.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 815
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4C
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64837297&loc=SL5624171-113959

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DerivativeInstrumentsNotDesignatedAsHedgingInstrumentsGainLossNet
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The amount of net gain (loss) reclassified into earnings in the period when cash flow hedge is discontinued because it is probable that the original forecasted transactions will not occur by the end of the original period or an additional two month time period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 815
-SubTopic 30
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (e)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35736893&loc=d3e80748-113994

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GainLossOnDiscontinuationOfCashFlowHedgeDueToForecastedTransactionProbableOfNotOccurringNet
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Revenue from the sale of oil and gas during the period.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 932
-SubTopic 235
-Section 50
-Paragraph 24
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68064819&loc=d3e62246-109447

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 225
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-03.1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=63488584&loc=d3e20235-122688

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 932
-SubTopic 235
-Section 50
-Paragraph 23
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68064819&loc=d3e62136-109447

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OilAndGasSalesRevenue
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=chk_OilAndGasExplorationAndProductionMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: