Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Income Statements Table (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017
REVENUES:
Revenues	$ 2,418	$ 1,943	$ 7,162	$ 6,977
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Oil, natural gas and NGL production	132	151	417	426
Oil, natural gas and NGL gathering, processing and transportation	364	369	1,060	1,081
Production taxes	34	21	91	64
General and administrative	66	54	229	189
Restructuring and other termination costs	0	0	38	0
Provision for legal contingencies, net	8	20	17	35
Oil, natural gas and NGL depreciation, depletion and amortization	274	228	813	627
Depreciation and amortization of other assets	17	20	54	62
Impairments	5	3	51	3
Net (gains) losses on sales of fixed assets	0	(1)	7	0
Other operating (income) expense	0	6	(1)	423
Total Operating Expenses	2,138	1,849	6,574	6,243
INCOME FROM OPERATIONS	280	94	588	734
OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE):
Interest expense	(127)	(114)	(367)	(302)
Gains on investments	0	0	139	0
Losses on purchases or exchanges of debt	(68)	(1)	(68)	183
Other income	1	4	63	6
Equity in net earnings of subsidiary	0	0	0	0
Total Other Expense	(194)	(111)	(233)	(113)
INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE INCOME TAXES	86	(17)	355	621
Income tax expense (benefit)	1	0	(8)	2
NET INCOME (LOSS)	85	(17)	363	619
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	(1)	(1)	(3)	(3)
NET INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO CHESAPEAKE	84	(18)	360	616
Other comprehensive income	8	8	25	29
COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO CHESAPEAKE	92	(10)	385	645
Eliminations [Member]
REVENUES:
Revenues	0	0	0	0
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Oil, natural gas and NGL production	0	0	0	0
Oil, natural gas and NGL gathering, processing and transportation	0	0	0	0
Production taxes	0	0	0	0
General and administrative	0	0	0	0
Restructuring and other termination costs			0
Provision for legal contingencies, net	0	0	0	0
Oil, natural gas and NGL depreciation, depletion and amortization	0	0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization of other assets	0	0	0	0
Impairments	0	0	0	0
Net (gains) losses on sales of fixed assets		0	0
Other operating (income) expense		0	0	0
Total Operating Expenses	0	0	0	0
INCOME FROM OPERATIONS	0	0	0	0
OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE):
Interest expense	0	0	0	0
Gains on investments			0
Losses on purchases or exchanges of debt	0	0	0	0
Other income	0	0	0	0
Equity in net earnings of subsidiary	(279)	(92)	(787)	(740)
Total Other Expense	(279)	(92)	(787)	(740)
INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE INCOME TAXES	(279)	(92)	(787)	(740)
Income tax expense (benefit)	0	0	0	0
NET INCOME (LOSS)	(279)	(92)	(787)	(740)
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0
NET INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO CHESAPEAKE	(279)	(92)	(787)	(740)
Other comprehensive income	0	0	0	0
COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO CHESAPEAKE	(279)	(92)	(787)	(740)
Parent Company [Member] | Reportable legal entities [Member]
REVENUES:
Revenues	0	0	0	0
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Oil, natural gas and NGL production	0	0	0	0
Oil, natural gas and NGL gathering, processing and transportation	0	0	0	0
Production taxes	0	0	0	0
General and administrative	0	0	0	3
Restructuring and other termination costs			0
Provision for legal contingencies, net	0	0	0	0
Oil, natural gas and NGL depreciation, depletion and amortization	0	0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization of other assets	0	0	0	0
Impairments	0	0	0	0
Net (gains) losses on sales of fixed assets		0	0
Other operating (income) expense		0	0	0
Total Operating Expenses	0	0	0	3
INCOME FROM OPERATIONS	0	0	0	(3)
OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE):
Interest expense	(125)	(110)	(365)	(300)
Gains on investments			0
Losses on purchases or exchanges of debt	(68)	(1)	(68)	183
Other income	0	1	0	1
Equity in net earnings of subsidiary	278	92	785	737
Total Other Expense	85	(18)	352	621
INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE INCOME TAXES	85	(18)	352	618
Income tax expense (benefit)	1	0	(8)	2
NET INCOME (LOSS)	84	(18)	360	616
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0
NET INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO CHESAPEAKE	84	(18)	360	616
Other comprehensive income	0	0	0	0
COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO CHESAPEAKE	84	(18)	360	616
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member] | Reportable legal entities [Member]
REVENUES:
Revenues	2,413	1,938	7,148	6,960
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Oil, natural gas and NGL production	132	151	417	426
Oil, natural gas and NGL gathering, processing and transportation	362	367	1,055	1,075
Production taxes	33	20	90	63
General and administrative	66	54	228	185
Restructuring and other termination costs			38
Provision for legal contingencies, net	8	20	17	35
Oil, natural gas and NGL depreciation, depletion and amortization	274	227	811	624
Depreciation and amortization of other assets	17	20	54	62
Impairments	5	3	51	3
Net (gains) losses on sales of fixed assets		(1)	7
Other operating (income) expense		6	(1)	423
Total Operating Expenses	2,135	1,845	6,565	6,229
INCOME FROM OPERATIONS	278	93	583	731
OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE):
Interest expense	(2)	(4)	(2)	(2)
Gains on investments			139
Losses on purchases or exchanges of debt	0	0	0	0
Other income	1	3	63	5
Equity in net earnings of subsidiary	1	0	2	3
Total Other Expense	0	(1)	202	6
INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE INCOME TAXES	278	92	785	737
Income tax expense (benefit)	0	0	0	0
NET INCOME (LOSS)	278	92	785	737
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0
NET INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO CHESAPEAKE	278	92	785	737
Other comprehensive income	8	8	25	29
COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO CHESAPEAKE	286	100	810	766
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member] | Reportable legal entities [Member]
REVENUES:
Revenues	5	5	14	17
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Oil, natural gas and NGL production	0	0	0	0
Oil, natural gas and NGL gathering, processing and transportation	2	2	5	6
Production taxes	1	1	1	1
General and administrative	0	0	1	1
Restructuring and other termination costs			0
Provision for legal contingencies, net	0	0	0	0
Oil, natural gas and NGL depreciation, depletion and amortization	0	1	2	3
Depreciation and amortization of other assets	0	0	0	0
Impairments	0	0	0	0
Net (gains) losses on sales of fixed assets		0	0
Other operating (income) expense		0	0	0
Total Operating Expenses	3	4	9	11
INCOME FROM OPERATIONS	2	1	5	6
OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE):
Interest expense	0	0	0	0
Gains on investments			0
Losses on purchases or exchanges of debt	0	0	0	0
Other income	0	0	0	0
Equity in net earnings of subsidiary	0	0	0	0
Total Other Expense	0	0	0	0
INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE INCOME TAXES	2	1	5	6
Income tax expense (benefit)	0	0	0	0
NET INCOME (LOSS)	2	1	5	6
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	(1)	(1)	(3)	(3)
NET INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO CHESAPEAKE	1	0	2	3
Other comprehensive income	0	0	0	0
COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO CHESAPEAKE	1	0	2	3
Oil, natrual gas and NGL [Member]
REVENUES:
Revenues	1,199	979	3,424	3,727
Oil, natrual gas and NGL [Member] | Eliminations [Member]
REVENUES:
Revenues	0	0	0	0
Oil, natrual gas and NGL [Member] | Parent Company [Member] | Reportable legal entities [Member]
REVENUES:
Revenues	0	0	0	0
Oil, natrual gas and NGL [Member] | Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member] | Reportable legal entities [Member]
REVENUES:
Revenues	1,194	974	3,410	3,710
Oil, natrual gas and NGL [Member] | Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member] | Reportable legal entities [Member]
REVENUES:
Revenues	5	5	14	17
Marketing [Member]
REVENUES:
Revenues	1,219	964	3,738	3,250
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Marketing	1,238	978	3,798	3,333
Marketing [Member] | Eliminations [Member]
REVENUES:
Revenues	0	0	0	0
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Marketing	0	0	0	0
Marketing [Member] | Parent Company [Member] | Reportable legal entities [Member]
REVENUES:
Revenues	0	0	0	0
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Marketing	0	0	0	0
Marketing [Member] | Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member] | Reportable legal entities [Member]
REVENUES:
Revenues	1,219	964	3,738	3,250
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Marketing	1,238	978	3,798	3,333
Marketing [Member] | Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member] | Reportable legal entities [Member]
REVENUES:
Revenues	0	0	0	0
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Marketing	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0