| 
           Schedule I - Gurantees (Details) (USD $) 
        In Millions, unless otherwise specified  | 
        
           Jan. 31, 2008
 
          term 
         | 
        
           Dec. 31, 2011
 
          Parent [Member] 
         | 
        
           Dec. 31, 2011
 
          Parent [Member]
 
          LNG and natural gas marketing business [Member] 
         | 
      
|---|---|---|---|
| Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items] | |||
| Regasification capacity | 2.0 | ||
| Number of Tug Boat Agreement term-renewals available | 2 | ||
| Guarantor Obligations, Maximum Exposure, Undiscounted | $ 5.0 | 
| X | ||||||||||
| 
             
- Definition 
          Number of Tug Boat Agreement Term-renewals Available No definition available. 
  | 
        
| X | ||||||||||
| 
             
- Definition 
          Regasification capacity No definition available. 
  | 
        
| X | ||||||||||
| 
             
- Details 
          
  | 
        
| X | ||||||||||
| 
             
- Definition 
          Maximum potential amount of future payments (undiscounted) the guarantor could be required to make under the guarantee or each group of similar guarantees before reduction for potential recoveries under recourse or collateralization provisions. Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef 
  |