General (Details) (USD $) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011
General - (Details) [Abstract]
Miles of pipeline owned or operated	28,000
Terminals owned or operated	180
Number of reportable business segments	5
Number of shares of Kinder Morgan Inc. Preferred Stock issued and sold	100,000
Maturity Date of Kinder Morgan Inc. Preferred Stock	2057Y
Number of subsidiaries requiring the consent of holders of a majority of Kinder Morgan Inc. preferred shares to commence or file a voluntary bankruptcy proceeding	2
Ownership interest in the limited partnership held by Kinder Morgan Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries	1240.00%
Sebsequent event - KMI acquisition of El Paso
Date definative agreement was announced	Oct. 16, 2011
Approximate enterprise value of KMI and El Paso once combined	$ 94,000,000,000.0
Approximate purchase price for El Paso acquisition	$ 38,000,000,000.0
Miles of pipe of combined entity	80,000
El Paso Corp's ownership interest in the limited partner units of El Paso Pipeline Partners LP	0.42
El Paso Corp's general parter interest in El Paso Partners LP	0.02
Period the acquisition is expected to close in	second quarter of 2012

Approximate enterprise value of KMI and El Paso once combined

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Approximate purchase price for El Paso acquisition

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Date definative agreement was announced

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El Paso Corp's general parter interest in El Paso Partners LP

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El Paso Corp's ownership interest in the limited partner units of El Paso Pipeline Partners LP

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The percentage of the limited partnership owned by Kinder Morgan, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries, through its general and limited partner interests and its ownership of shares issued by its subsidiary Kinder Morgan Management LLC.

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Represents the number of shares of fixed to floating nonredeemable cumulative preferred Series A shares issued and sold by the general partner of the Limited Partnership.

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Represents the redemption date of the shares of fixed to floating nonredeemable cumulative preferred Series A shares issued and sold by the general partner of the limited partnership.

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Miles of pipe of combined entity

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Number of miles of long lived, depreciable assets used for the primary purpose of transporting natural gas and liquids products through interconnected pipe, generally underground, for many miles.

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Terminals consist of locations that facilitate the transloading and storing of refined petroleum products and dry and liquid bulk products, including coal, petroleum coke, cement, alumina, salt and other bulk chemicals.

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A segment of an entity for which there is an accounting requirement to report separate financial information on that segment in the entity's financial statements.

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The number of subsidiaries that, along with the limited partnership, require the consent of holders of a majority of the Kinder Morgan Inc. preferred shares to commence or file a voluntary bankruptcy proceeding.

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Period the acquisition is expected to close in

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Sebsequent event - KMI acquisition of El Paso

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