Debt - Components of Debt (Details) - USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Total debt	$ 2,480,528,000	$ 2,582,196,000
Subtotal (excluding lessor VIE loans)	722,459,000	732,568,000
Less: Deferred finance charges, net	(13,020,000)	(16,837,000)
Total debt, net of deferred financing costs	2,467,508,000	2,565,359,000
Secured Debt \| Golar Arctic facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Total debt	54,650,000	58,300,000
Secured Debt \| Golar Viking facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Total debt	44,271,000	46,875,000
Secured Debt \| Margin loan
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Total debt	100,000,000	100,000,000
Secured Debt \| $1.125 billion facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Total debt	162,873,000	173,732,000
Secured Debt \| ICBC VIE loans
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Total debt	568,608,000	609,220,000
Secured Debt \| CCBFL VIE loan
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Total debt	123,105,000	123,524,000
Secured Debt \| CMBL VIE loan
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Total debt	113,321,000	121,741,000
Secured Debt \| COSCO Shipping VIE loan
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Total debt	94,351,000	97,163,000
Secured Debt \| CSSC VIE loan
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Total debt	858,684,000	897,980,000
Convertible Debt \| 2017 convertible bonds
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Total debt	360,665,000	353,661,000
Line of Credit \| Secured Debt \| $1.125 billion facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of credit facility, maximum borrowing capacity	$ 1,125,000,000	$ 1,125,000,000

Long-term Debt and Due to Related Parties

No definition available.

Name:	glng_LongtermDebtandDuetoRelatedParties
Namespace Prefix:	glng_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Long-term Debt and Due to Related Parties, Excluding VIE Loans

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	glng_LongtermDebtandDuetoRelatedPartiesExcludingVIELoans
Namespace Prefix:	glng_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Long-term Debt and Due to Related Parties, Gross

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	glng_LongtermDebtandDuetoRelatedPartiesGross
Namespace Prefix:	glng_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount, after accumulated amortization, of debt issuance costs. Includes, but is not limited to, legal, accounting, underwriting, printing, and registration costs.

+ References

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 210.5-02.17)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 835
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 3
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=114775744&loc=d3e28555-108399

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DeferredFinanceCostsNet
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Maximum borrowing capacity under the credit facility without consideration of any current restrictions on the amount that could be borrowed or the amounts currently outstanding under the facility.

+ References

+ Details

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

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis=us-gaap_SecuredDebtMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=glng_GolarArcticFacilityMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=glng_GolarVikingFacilityMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=glng_MarginLoanFacilityMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=glng_A1.125BillionNewbuildFacilityMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=glng_ICBCVIELoansMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=glng_SealVIELoanMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=glng_TundraVIELoanMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=glng_CrystalVIELoanMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=glng_CSSCVIELoanMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_LongtermDebtTypeAxis=us-gaap_ConvertibleDebtMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=glng_ConvertibleBonds2017Member
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_CreditFacilityAxis=us-gaap_LineOfCreditMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: