Debt Debt - Summary (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Current portion of long-term debt and short-term debt	$ 830,911	$ 1,384,933
Long-term debt	1,788,669	1,025,914
Total debt, net of deferred finance charges	2,619,580	2,410,847
Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Current portion of long-term debt and short-term debt	799,011	833,664
Long-term debt	1,097,539	$ 252,691
Total debt, net of deferred finance charges	1,896,550
Golar
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Current portion of long-term debt and short-term debt	31,900
Long-term debt	691,130
Total debt, net of deferred finance charges	$ 723,030

Amount after unamortized (discount) premium and debt issuance costs of long-term debt classified as noncurrent and excluding amounts to be repaid within one year or the normal operating cycle, if longer. Includes, but not limited to, notes payable, bonds payable, debentures, mortgage loans and commercial paper. Excludes capital lease obligations.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 210
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.22)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Name:	us-gaap_LongTermDebtNoncurrent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant