| **Halliburton Merger Agreement - (Details) (USD $)**        | 12 Months Ended                                                    |
|-------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| **Business Combinations [Abstract]**                        |                                                               |
| Baker Hughes to Halliburton share exchange ratio            | 1.12bhi_BakerHughestoHalliburtonshareexchangeratio                 |
| Cash consideration per share from Halliburton               | 19.00bhi_CashconsiderationpersharefromHalliburton                  |
| Revenue divestiture threshold                               | 7,500,000,000bhi_Revenuedivestiturethreshold                       |
| Baker Hughes merger termination fee                         | $ 1,000,000,000bhi_BakerHughesmergerterminationfee                 |
| Halliburton merger termination fee minimum                  | 1,500,000,000bhi_Halliburtonmergerterminationfeeminimum            |
| Halliburton merger termination fee maximum                  | 3,500,000,000bhi_Halliburtonmergerterminationfeemaximum            |
| Expense reimbursement by Baker Hughes for terminated merger | 40,000,000bhi_ExpensereimbursementbyBakerHughesforterminatedmerger |
| Payments for Merger Related Costs                           | $ 11,000,000us-gaap_PaymentsForMergerRelatedCosts                  |

| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Baker Hughes merger termination fee
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**bhi_BakerHughesmergerterminationfee**Namespace Prefix:**bhi_**Data Type:**xbrli:monetaryItemType**Balance Type:**debit**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Baker Hughes to Halliburton share exchange ratio
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**bhi_BakerHughestoHalliburtonshareexchangeratio**Namespace Prefix:**bhi_**Data Type:**xbrli:sharesItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Cash consideration per share from Halliburton
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**bhi_CashconsiderationpersharefromHalliburton**Namespace Prefix:**bhi_**Data Type:**xbrli:pureItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Expense reimbursement by Baker Hughes for terminated merger
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**bhi_ExpensereimbursementbyBakerHughesforterminatedmerger**Namespace Prefix:**bhi_**Data Type:**xbrli:monetaryItemType**Balance Type:**debit**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Halliburton merger termination fee maximum
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**bhi_Halliburtonmergerterminationfeemaximum**Namespace Prefix:**bhi_**Data Type:**xbrli:monetaryItemType**Balance Type:**credit**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Halliburton merger termination fee minimum
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**bhi_Halliburtonmergerterminationfeeminimum**Namespace Prefix:**bhi_**Data Type:**xbrli:monetaryItemType**Balance Type:**credit**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Revenue divestiture threshold
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**bhi_Revenuedivestiturethreshold**Namespace Prefix:**bhi_**Data Type:**xbrli:pureItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**us-gaap_BusinessCombinationsAbstract**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**xbrli:stringItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
The amount of cash paid during the reporting period for charges associated with the mergers.
+ References
Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 230 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 25 -Subparagraph (g) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=31042434&loc=d3e3536-108585
+ Details**Name:**us-gaap_PaymentsForMergerRelatedCosts**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**xbrli:monetaryItemType**Balance Type:**credit**Period Type:**duration |