Earnings Per Share - Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of EPS Table (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Millions, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Net income (loss) available to common stockholders	$ (40)	$ 470	$ 228	$ 547
Effect of dilutive securities	0	59	0	72
Diluted income (loss) available to common stockholders	$ (40)	$ 529	$ 228	$ 619
Dilutive Securities, Effect on Basic Earnings Per Share [Abstract]
Weighted average common and common equivalent shares outstanding, basic (in shares)	909	908	908	907
Effect of dilutive securities (in shares)	0	206	0	146
Weighted average common and common equivalent shares outstanding, diluted (in shares)	909	1,114	908	1,053
Net income per share attributable to Chesapeake:
Earnings per common share, basic (in dollars per share)	$ (0.04)	$ 0.52	$ 0.25	$ 0.60
Earnings per common share, diluted (in dollars per share)	$ (0.04)	$ 0.47	$ 0.25	$ 0.59
Convertible preferred stock [Member]
Net income per share attributable to Chesapeake:
Shares of common stock for the following securities were excluded from the calculation of diluted EPS as the effect was antidilutive:	0	0	0	1
Convertible debt securities [Member]
Net income per share attributable to Chesapeake:
Shares of common stock for the following securities were excluded from the calculation of diluted EPS as the effect was antidilutive:	146	0	146	0
Participating securities [Member]
Net income per share attributable to Chesapeake:
Shares of common stock for the following securities were excluded from the calculation of diluted EPS as the effect was antidilutive:	1	1	1	1
Preferred stock [Member]
Net income per share attributable to Chesapeake:
Shares of common stock for the following securities were excluded from the calculation of diluted EPS as the effect was antidilutive:	60	0	60	60