Debt - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended												12 Months Ended										1 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 Unsecured Committed Bank Credit Facilities in U.S. [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Unsecured Committed Bank Credit Facilities in Australia [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Unsecured Committed Bank Credit Facilities in Canada [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Unsecured Committed Bank Credit Facilities [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Revolving Credit Facility Due August Two Thousand Sixteen [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Revolving Credit Facility Due June Two Thousand Seventeen [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 United States [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Australia [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Canada [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Notes Payable, Other Payables [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Money Market Lines of Credit [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Money Market Lines of Credit [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Apache finance Canada 7.75% notes due 2029 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Apache finance Canada 7.75% notes due 2029 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Apache Finance Canada 4.375% notes due 2015 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Apache Finance Canada 4.375% notes due 2015 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Maturing 2017 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Maturing 2022 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Maturing 2043 [Member]	Apr. 30, 2012 Maturing on 2012 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 2.625% Senior Unsecured Notes Due January 15, 2023 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Four Point Two Five Percent Senior Unsecured Notes Due January Fifteen Two Thousand Fourty Four [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Maximum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Minimum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt before unamortized discount	$ 12,411,000,000	$ 7,262,000,000														$ 300,000,000	$ 300,000,000	$ 350,000,000	$ 350,000,000	$ 400,000,000	$ 1,100,000,000	$ 1,500,000,000		$ 1,200,000,000
Margin over LIBOR for committed loans				0.90%	0.90%	0.90%	0.875%									7.75%	7.75%	4.375%	4.375%	1.75%	3.25%	4.75%	6.25%	2.625%	4.25%
Repayment of current debt																							400,000,000
2017	1,389,000,000																								800
Outstanding balance under the facility secured revolving syndicated	91,000,000	31,000,000												91,000,000	31,000,000
Unsecured credit facility available to Company	3,300,000,000							1,000,000,000	2,300,000,000
Revolving bank facility	1,700,000,000			1,700,000,000	300,000,000	300,000,000	1,000,000,000			1,000,000,000	300,000,000	300,000,000
Credit facility maturity date								Aug. 31, 2016	Jun. 30, 2017
Line of Credit Facility, Remaining Borrowing Capacity	2,800,000,000
Maturing date of credit facilities				Jun. 04, 2017	Jun. 04, 2017	Jun. 04, 2017	Aug. 12, 2012
Quarterly facility fees				0.10 percent on the total amount	0.10 percent on the total amount	0.10 percent on the total amount	0.125 percent on the total amount
Line of Credit Facility, Interest Rate Description	At December 31, 2012, the margin over LIBOR for committed loans was 0.875 percent on the $1.0 billion U.S. credit facility and 0.90 percent on each of the $1.7 billion U.S. credit facility, the $300 million facility in Australia, and the $300 million credit facility in Canada. The Company also pays quarterly facility fees of 0.125 percent on the total amount of the $1.0 billion facility and 0.10 percent on the total amount of the other three facilities. The facility fees vary based upon the Company’s senior long-term debt rating.
Debt to Capitalization ratio	0.28																									0.60
Debt Instrument Covenant Description	The financial covenants of the credit facilities require the Company to maintain a debt-to-capitalization ratio of not greater than 60 percent at the end of any fiscal quarter.
Percentage of liens of companies consolidated asset	5.00%
Maximum potential lien on assets located in specified regions	3,000,000,000
Commercial paper program																										2,950,000,000	3,000,000,000
Period For Borrowing Funds													270 days
Weighted average interest rate for commercial paper	0.43%
Available backstops	100.00%
Carrying Amount, Commercial paper	489,000,000	0
Unamortized discount	66,000,000	46,000,000
Amortization of Debt Discount (Premium)	3,000,000	2,000,000	2,000,000
Unamortized deferred loan costs associated with its various debt obligations	$ 118,000,000	$ 48,000,000