| **Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)** | 9 Months Ended                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
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| **Accounting Policies [Abstract]**                        |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| Nature of Operations                                      | Nature of OperationsBaker Hughes Incorporated (“Baker Hughes,” “Company,” “we,” “our,” or “us,”) is a leading supplier of oilfield services, products, technology and systems used for drilling, formation evaluation, completion and production, pressure pumping, and reservoir development in the worldwide oil and natural gas industry.  We also provide products and services for other businesses, including downstream refining, and process and pipeline services.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| Basis of Presentation                                     | Basis of PresentationOur unaudited consolidated condensed financial statements included herein have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“U.S.”) and pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for interim financial information.  Accordingly, certain information and disclosures normally included in our annual financial statements have been condensed or omitted.  These unaudited consolidated condensed financial statements should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012 (“2012 Annual Report”).  We believe the unaudited consolidated condensed financial statements included herein reflect all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) necessary for a fair presentation of the interim periods.  Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to present our Process and Pipelines Services business as continuing operations, consistent with the presentation in our 2012 Annual Report.  The results of operations for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations to be expected for the full year.  In the notes to the unaudited consolidated condensed financial statements, all dollar and share amounts in tabulations are in millions of dollars and shares, respectively, unless otherwise indicated. |
| New Accounting Standards Updates                          | New Accounting Standards UpdatesIn February 2013, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2013-02, Reporting of Amounts Reclassified Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income.  This ASU requires entities to present separately, among other items, the amount of the change that is due to reclassifications, and the amount that is due to current period other comprehensive income.  We adopted the new presentation requirements in the notes to our financial statements in the first quarter of 2013.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |

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| - Definition
The entire disclosure for the basis of accounting, or basis of presentation, used to prepare the financial statements (for example, US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Other Comprehensive Basis of Accounting, IFRS).
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No definition available.
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| - Definition
The entire disclosure for the nature of an entity's business, the major products or services it sells or provides and its principal markets, including the locations of those markets. If the entity operates in more than one business, the disclosure also indicates the relative importance of its operations in each business and the basis for the determination (for example, assets, revenues, or earnings).
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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 275 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6927468&loc=d3e6003-108592
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| - Definition
Disclosure of accounting policy pertaining to new accounting pronouncements that may impact the entity's financial reporting. Includes, but is not limited to, quantification of the expected or actual impact.
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No definition available.
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