Change in Accounting Principle - Statements of Operations (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Millions, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2019	Mar. 31, 2018
REVENUES AND OTHER:
Revenues	$ 2,196	$ 2,524	[1]
Gains on sales of assets	19	19	[1],[2]
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Production taxes	34	31	[1]
General and administrative	103	87	[1]
Restructuring and other termination costs	0	38	[1]
Provision for legal contingencies, net	0	5	[1]
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	519	459	[1],[2]
Impairments	1	10	[1],[2]
Other operating expense	61	0	[1]
Total Operating Expenses	2,378	2,482	[1]
INCOME (LOSS) FROM OPERATIONS	(182)	42	[1]
OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE):
Interest expense	(161)	(162)	[1]
Gains (losses) on investments	(1)	139	[1]
Other income (expense)	9	(1)	[1]
Total Other Expense	(153)	(24)	[1]
INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE INCOME TAXES	(335)	18	[1]
INCOME TAX BENEFIT	(314)	0	[1]
NET INCOME (LOSS)	(21)	18	[2],[3]
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	(1)	[3]
NET INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO CHESAPEAKE	(21)	17	[1]
Preferred stock dividends	(23)	(23)	[1]
Earnings allocated to participating securities		0
NET LOSS AVAILABLE TO COMMON STOCKHOLDERS	$ (44)	$ (6)	[1]
EARNINGS (LOSS) PER COMMON SHARE:
Basic (in dollars per share)	$ (0.03)	$ (0.01)	[1]
Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ (0.03)	$ (0.01)	[1]
WEIGHTED AVERAGE COMMON AND COMMON EQUIVALENT SHARES OUTSTANDING (in millions):
Basic (in shares)	1,380	907	[1]
Diluted (in shares)	1,380	907	[1]
Oil, natural gas and NGL
REVENUES AND OTHER:
Revenues	$ 929	$ 1,243	[1]
Marketing
REVENUES AND OTHER:
Revenues	1,233	1,246	[1]
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Expense	1,230	1,268	[1]
Oil, natural gas and NGL and Marketing
REVENUES AND OTHER:
Revenues	2,162	2,489	[1]
Other
REVENUES AND OTHER:
Revenues	15	16	[1]
Oil, natural gas and NGL production
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Expense	132	147	[1]
Oil, natural gas and NGL gathering, processing and transportation
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Expense	274	356	[1]
Exploration
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Expense	24	81	[1]
Under Full Cost
REVENUES AND OTHER:
Revenues	2,162	2,489
Gains on sales of assets	0	0
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Production taxes	34	31
General and administrative	88	72
Restructuring and other termination costs		38
Provision for legal contingencies, net		5
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	357	286
Impairments	1	0
Other operating expense	51	8
Total Operating Expenses	2,167	2,211
INCOME (LOSS) FROM OPERATIONS	(5)	278
OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE):
Interest expense	(135)	(123)
Gains (losses) on investments	(1)	139
Other income (expense)	7	0
Total Other Expense	(129)	16
INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE INCOME TAXES	(134)	294
INCOME TAX BENEFIT	(314)	0
NET INCOME (LOSS)	180	294
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	(1)	(1)
NET INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO CHESAPEAKE	179	293
Preferred stock dividends	(23)	(23)
Earnings allocated to participating securities		(2)
NET LOSS AVAILABLE TO COMMON STOCKHOLDERS	$ 156	$ 268
EARNINGS (LOSS) PER COMMON SHARE:
Basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.11	$ 0.30
Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.11	$ 0.29
WEIGHTED AVERAGE COMMON AND COMMON EQUIVALENT SHARES OUTSTANDING (in millions):
Basic (in shares)	1,380	907
Diluted (in shares)	1,380	1,053
Under Full Cost | Oil, natural gas and NGL
REVENUES AND OTHER:
Revenues	$ 929	$ 1,243
Under Full Cost | Marketing
REVENUES AND OTHER:
Revenues	1,233	1,246
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Expense	1,230	1,268
Under Full Cost | Oil, natural gas and NGL and Marketing
REVENUES AND OTHER:
Revenues	2,162	2,489
Under Full Cost | Other
REVENUES AND OTHER:
Revenues	0	0
Under Full Cost | Oil, natural gas and NGL production
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Expense	132	147
Under Full Cost | Oil, natural gas and NGL gathering, processing and transportation
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Expense	274	356
Under Full Cost | Exploration
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Expense	0	0
Successful Efforts Adjustment
REVENUES AND OTHER:
Revenues	34	35
Gains on sales of assets	19	19
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Production taxes	0	0
General and administrative	15	15
Restructuring and other termination costs		0
Provision for legal contingencies, net		0
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	162	173
Impairments	0	10
Other operating expense	10	(8)
Total Operating Expenses	211	271
INCOME (LOSS) FROM OPERATIONS	(177)	(236)
OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE):
Interest expense	(26)	(39)
Gains (losses) on investments	0	0
Other income (expense)	2	(1)
Total Other Expense	(24)	(40)
INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE INCOME TAXES	(201)	(276)
INCOME TAX BENEFIT	0	0
NET INCOME (LOSS)	(201)	(276)
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	1	0
NET INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO CHESAPEAKE	(200)	(276)
Preferred stock dividends	0	0
Earnings allocated to participating securities		2
NET LOSS AVAILABLE TO COMMON STOCKHOLDERS	$ (200)	$ (274)
EARNINGS (LOSS) PER COMMON SHARE:
Basic (in dollars per share)	$ (0.14)	$ (0.31)
Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ (0.14)	$ (0.30)
WEIGHTED AVERAGE COMMON AND COMMON EQUIVALENT SHARES OUTSTANDING (in millions):
Basic (in shares)	0	0
Diluted (in shares)	0	(146)
Successful Efforts Adjustment | Oil, natural gas and NGL
REVENUES AND OTHER:
Revenues	$ 0	$ 0
Successful Efforts Adjustment | Marketing
REVENUES AND OTHER:
Revenues	0	0
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Expense	0	0
Successful Efforts Adjustment | Oil, natural gas and NGL and Marketing
REVENUES AND OTHER:
Revenues	0	0
Successful Efforts Adjustment | Other
REVENUES AND OTHER:
Revenues	15	16
Successful Efforts Adjustment | Oil, natural gas and NGL production
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Expense	0	0
Successful Efforts Adjustment | Oil, natural gas and NGL gathering, processing and transportation
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Expense	0	0
Successful Efforts Adjustment | Exploration
OPERATING EXPENSES:
Expense	$ 24	$ 81

[1] Financial information for 2018 has been recast to reflect the retrospective application of the successful efforts method of accounting. See Note 1.

[2] Financial information for 2018 has been recast to reflect the retrospective application of the successful efforts method of accounting. See Note 1.

[3] Financial information for 2018 has been recast to reflect the retrospective application of the successful efforts method of accounting. See Note 1.