| **Quarterly Data (Unaudited) - (Notes)** | 12 Months Ended                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
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| **Quarterly Financial Data [Abstract]**  |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| Quarterly Data (Unaudited)               | QUARTERLY DATA (UNAUDITED) FirstQuarter SecondQuarter Third Quarter Fourth Quarter TotalYear2015         Revenue$4,594 $3,968 $3,786 $3,394 $15,742Gross profit (1)114 229 268 146 757Impairment and restructuring charges (2)573 76 98 1,246 1,993Net loss attributable to Baker Hughes(589) (188) (159) (1,031) (1,967)Basic loss per share attributable to Baker Hughes(1.35) (0.43) (0.36) (2.35) (4.49)Diluted loss per share attributable to Baker Hughes(1.35) (0.43) (0.36) (2.35) (4.49)Dividends per share0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.68Common stock market prices:         High65.04 69.13 61.13 57.33  Low53.53 61.11 45.76 43.36            2014         Revenue$5,731 $5,935 $6,250 $6,635 $24,551Gross profit (1)868 1,031 984 1,309 4,192Net income attributable to Baker Hughes328 353 375 663 1,719Basic earnings per share attributable to Baker Hughes0.75 0.81 0.86 1.53 3.93Diluted earnings per share attributable to Baker Hughes0.74 0.80 0.86 1.52 3.92Dividends per share0.15 0.15 0.17 0.17 0.64Common stock market prices:         High65.27 74.63 75.35 65.83  Low51.82 63.37 65.06 50.02  (1) Represents revenue less cost of sales, cost of services and research and engineering.(2) Impairment and restructuring charges associated with asset impairments, workforce reductions, facility closures and contract terminations recorded during 2015.  See Note 3. "Impairment and Restructuring Charges" for further discussion. |

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No definition available.
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| - Definition
The entire disclosure for the quarterly financial data in the annual financial statements.  The disclosure may include a tabular presentation of financial information for each fiscal quarter for the current and previous year, including revenues, gross profit, income or loss before extraordinary items and earnings per share data. It also includes an indication if the information in the note is unaudited, comments on the aggregate effect of year-end adjustments, and an explanation of matters or transactions that affect comparability or are pertinent to an understanding of the information furnished.
+ References
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