Equity and Distributions (Details) (USD $) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			3 Months Ended											12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011		Dec. 31, 2010		Dec. 31, 2009	Dec. 31, 2000	Dec. 31, 2011 Distribution Reinvestment Plan [Member]	May 31, 2011 Employee Unit Purchase Plan [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Enterprise EUPP [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Shelf Registration 2007 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Shelf Registration 2010 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Shelf Registration 2010 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Shelf Registration 2010 [Member]	Sep. 07, 2011 Duncan Energy Partners [Member]	Nov. 22, 2010 Holdings [Member]	Sep. 30, 2010 Holdings [Member] Cash Distribution [Member]	Jun. 30, 2010 Holdings [Member] Cash Distribution [Member]	Mar. 31, 2010 Holdings [Member] Cash Distribution [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Enterprise [Member] Cash Distribution [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Enterprise [Member] Cash Distribution [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Enterprise [Member] Cash Distribution [Member]	Mar. 31, 2011 Enterprise [Member] Cash Distribution [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Enterprise [Member] Cash Distribution [Member]	Sep. 30, 2010 Enterprise [Member] Cash Distribution [Member]	Jun. 30, 2010 Enterprise [Member] Cash Distribution [Member]	Mar. 31, 2010 Enterprise [Member] Cash Distribution [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Class B units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Class B units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 Class B units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Common units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Common units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 Common units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Treasury Units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Treasury Units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 Treasury Units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Holdings Merger [Member] Common units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Duncan Merger [Member] Common units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 TEPPCO Merger [Member] Class B units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 TEPPCO Merger [Member] Common units [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 TEPPCO Merger [Member] Common units [Member] Holdings [Member]
Mergers [Line Items]
Units outstanding (in units)															24,036,950	139,195,064												4,520,431	4,520,431		881,620,418	843,681,572
Common unit exchange ratio in connection with merger																																					1.5	1.01	1.24	1.24
Common units issued in connection with merger (in units)																																					208,813,454	24,277,310	4,520,431	126,932,318	1,331,681
Number of quarters Class B units are not entitled to regular quarterly cash distributions																																							16
Summary of changes in outstanding units [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance (in units)																												4,520,431	4,520,431	0	843,681,572	605,923,710	441,435,331	0	0	0
Common units issued in connection with underwritten offerings (in units)												10,350,000	13,225,000															0	0	0	10,350,000	37,950,000	18,927,500	0	0	0
Common units issued in connection with private placement (in units)																														0			5,940,594			0
Common units issued in connection with the TEPPCO Merger (in units)																														0			126,624,302			0
Class B units issued in connection with the TEPPCO Merger (in units)																														4,520,431			0			0
Common units issued in connection with the Holdings Merger (in units)																													0			208,813,454			0
Common units cancelled in connection with the Holdings Merger (in units)																													0			(21,563,177)			0		(21,563,177)
Common units issued in connection with Duncan Merger (in units)																												0			24,277,310			0
Common units issued in connection with DRIP and EUPP (in units)								2,241,589		96,315																		0	0	0	2,337,904	8,378,053	12,089,920	0	0	0
Restricted common units issued (in units)																												0	0	0	1,414,630	1,393,925	1,025,650	0	0	0
Restricted common units issued in connection with the TEPPCO Merger (in units)																														0			308,016			0
Forfeiture of restricted common units (in units)																												0	0	0	(183,920)	(169,565)	(411,884)	0	0	0
Common units issued in connection with equity-based awards (in units)																													0	0		193,030	59,638		0	0
Common units issued to EPCO in exchange for equity interest in trucking business (in units)	523,306																												0			523,306			0
Common units issued in connection with acquisition of marine shipyard assets (in units)																													0			2,329,639			0
Acquisition of treasury units in connection with equity-based awards (in units)																												0	0	0	(255,276)	(103,241)	(75,357)	255,276	103,241	75,357
Cancellation of treasury units (in units)																												0	0	0	0	0	0	(255,276)	(103,241)	(75,357)
Other (in units)																												0	0		(1,802)	12,438		0	0
Ending Balance (in units)																												4,520,431	4,520,431	4,520,431	881,620,418	843,681,572	605,923,710	0	0	0
Registration Statements and Equity Offerings [Line Items]
Maximum common units authorized for issuance (in units)								70,000,000	1,200,000	440,879
Remaining units available for issuance (in units)								26,173,283
Common units issued in connection with DRIP and EUPP (in units)								2,241,589		96,315																		0	0	0	2,337,904	8,378,053	12,089,920	0	0	0
Net Cash Proceeds from Sale of Common Units [Abstract]
Number of common units issued in offering (in units)												10,350,000	13,225,000															0	0	0	10,350,000	37,950,000	18,927,500	0	0	0
Over-allotment of common units included in offering (in units)												1,350,000	1,725,000
Offering price of common unit offerings (in dollars per share)												$ 44.68	$ 41.25
Net cash proceeds		$ 542.9		$ 528.5				$ 90.4		$ 4.0		$ 448.5	$ 528.5
Senior notes issued under universal shelf registration														2,750
Cumulative common units issued under universal registration statement (in units)											43,652,500
Cumulative net cash proceeds from issuance of common units under universal shelf registration											1,270
Cumulative senior notes issued under universal shelf registration											5,200
Treasury Units [Abstract]
Maximum common units authorized for repurchase by the 1999 Trust under a buy-back program (in units)							2,000,000
Maximum remaining common units authorized for repurchase by the 1999 Trust under a buy-back program (in units)		618,400
Unit awards that vested during the period (in units)		936,608
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) [Abstract]
Commodity derivative instruments		(21.4)	[1]	(31.8)	[1]
Interest rate derivative instruments		(329.0)	[1]	(2.1)	[1]
Foreign currency translation adjustment		1.7	[2]	1.7	[2]
Pension and postretirement benefit plans		(1.7)		(0.4)
Proportionate share of other comprehensive loss of Energy Transfer Equity		(1.0)		(1.0)
Subtotal		(351.4)		(33.6)
Amounts attributable to noncontrolling interests		0		1.1
Total accumulated other comprehensive loss in partners' equity		(351.4)		(32.5)
Components of noncontrolling interests [Abstract]
Former owners of Duncan Energy Partners		0		412.1
Joint venture partners		105.9	[3]	115.6	[3]
Accumulated other comprehensive loss attributable to noncontrolling interests		0		(1.1)
Total noncontrolling interests		105.9		526.6
Components of net income attributable to noncontrolling interests [Abstract]
Limited partners of Enterprise		0		1,000.3		825.5
Former owners of TEPPCO		0		0		53.0
Former owners of Duncan Energy Partners		20.9		37.1		31.3
Joint venture partners		20.5		25.5		26.4
Total		41.4		1,062.9		936.2
Cash distributions paid to noncontrolling interests:
Limited partners of Enterprise		0		1,405.7		1,038.2
Former owners of TEPPCO		0		0		218.4
Former owners of Duncan Energy Partners		32.9		42.9		33.7
Joint venture partners		27.8		29.8		31.8
Total cash distributions paid to noncontrolling interests		60.7		1,478.4		1,322.1
Cash contributions from noncontrolling interests:
Limited partners of Enterprise		0		1,099.2		875.5
Former owners of TEPPCO		0		0		3.5
Former owners of Duncan Energy Partners		2.6		1.7		137.4
Joint venture partners		5.9		2.8		(2.2)
Total cash contributions from noncontrolling interests		$ 8.5		$ 1,103.7		$ 1,014.2
Distributions to Partners [Abstract]
Distribution Per Common Unit (in dollars per unit)																	$ 0.5750	$ 0.5600	$ 0.5450	$ 0.6200	$ 0.6125	$ 0.6050	$ 0.5975	$ 0.5900	$ 0.5825	$ 0.5750	$ 0.5675
Record Date																	2010-10-29	2010-07-30	2010-04-30	2012-01-31	2011-10-31	2011-07-29	2011-04-29	2011-01-31	2010-10-29	2010-07-30	2010-04-30
Payment Date																	2010-11-09	2010-08-06	2010-05-07	2012-02-09	2011-11-09	2011-08-10	2011-05-06	2011-02-07	2010-11-08	2010-08-05	2010-05-06
Number of Designated Units (in units)																				26,130,000	30,610,000	30,610,000	30,610,000

[1] See Note 6 for additional information regarding these components of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss).

[2] Relates to transactions of our Canadian NGL marketing subsidiary.

[3] Represents third party ownership interests in joint ventures that we consolidate, including Seminole Pipeline Company ("Seminole"), Tri-States NGL Pipeline L.L.C., Independence Hub LLC, Rio Grande Pipeline Company, and Wilprise Pipeline Company LLC. We acquired the remaining noncontrolling interests of Seminole in December 2011.