Acquisitions Proforma (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012 Class P [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Class P [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Class P [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Class P [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Common Class A [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Common Class A [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Common Class A [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 Common Class A [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 El Paso Corporation [Member]	Jun. 30, 2011 El Paso Corporation [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 EP Energy Corporation (EPE) [Member] El Paso Corporation [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Revenue from continuing operations	$ 2,575,000,000	$ 2,646,000,000	$ 5,200,000,000	$ 5,309,000,000									$ 295,000,000
(Loss) income from continuing operations	(245,000,000)	208,000,000	179,000,000	518,000,000									(120,000,000)
Income from discontinued operations	1,767,000,000	215,000,000	1,410,000,000	238,000,000
Net income attributable to Kinder Morgan, Inc.	1,606,000,000	396,000,000	1,701,000,000	606,000,000
Basic net income from continuing operations per share					$ 1.55	$ 0.38	$ 1.64	$ 0.58	$ 1.52	$ 0.36	$ 1.59	$ 0.56
Diluted net income from continuing operations per share					$ 1.55	$ 0.38	$ 1.64	$ 0.58	$ 1.52	$ 0.36	$ 1.59	$ 0.56
Disposal group, gain on disposal															2,000,000,000
Loss on remeasurement of assets of disposal group to fair value, net of tax			755,000,000	0											327,000,000
Business acquisition costs	$ 374,000,000		$ 384,000,000										$ 217,000,000	$ 394,000,000