Common Stock (Details) (USD $)	0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended						9 Months Ended						9 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended
	Feb. 08, 2012	Feb. 28, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011	Mar. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012 Class A [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Class A [Member]	Feb. 07, 2012 Matador Resources Company [Member]	Mar. 02, 2012 Matador Resources Company [Member] Over-allotments [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Initial Public Offering [Member]	Feb. 02, 2012 Initial Public Offering [Member]	Jan. 31, 2012 Initial Public Offering [Member]	Mar. 02, 2012 Initial Public Offering [Member] Over-allotments [Member]	Feb. 07, 2012 Selling shareholders [Member]	Mar. 02, 2012 Selling shareholders [Member] Over-allotments [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Common stock [Member]	Feb. 28, 2012 Common stock [Member] Class A [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Common stock [Member] Class A [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Common stock [Member] Class A [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Underwriters [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Underwriters [Member]	Feb. 07, 2012 Underwriters [Member]	Feb. 07, 2012 Underwriters [Member] Matador Resources Company [Member] Right [Member]	Feb. 07, 2012 Underwriters [Member] Initial Public Offering [Member] Right [Member]	Feb. 07, 2012 Underwriters [Member] Selling shareholders [Member] Right [Member]
Common Stock (Textual) [Abstract]
Initial public offering of its common stock description											On August 12, 2011, the Company filed a Form S-1 Registration Statement under the Securities Act of 1933 to commence the initial public offering of its common stock (the “Initial Public Offering”). The Company’s Registration Statement (File 333-176263), as amended, was declared effective by the SEC on February 1, 2012. The underwriters for the Company’s Initial Public Offering were RBC Capital Markets, LLC; Citigroup Global Markets, Inc.; Jefferies & Company, Inc.; Howard Weil Incorporated; Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated; Simmons & Company International; Stephens Inc.; and Comerica Securities, Inc.
Company's common stock began trading, date			Feb. 01, 2012
Initial offering price per share												$ 12.00								$ 12.00			$ 12.00
Common stock for sale							56,697,718	42,916,668	11,666,667	542,500			13,333,334	1,550,000	1,666,667	1,007,500								1,300,000	2,000,000	700,000
Initial public offering closure date						Feb. 07, 2012															Mar. 07, 2012
Initial offering period																					30 days
Issuance of common stock																			12,209
Cash proceeds from issuance of common stock			$ 146,510,000	$ 592,000															$ 136,600,000
Underwriting discounts and commissions																						9,900,000
Fees and costs for issue of shares			11,599,000	1,185,000	2,100,000						3,500,000						13,400,000
Conversion of Class B common stock to Class A common stock, shares																			1,031
Issuance of additional shares of common stock																		295,500	295,000
Common Stock (Additional Textual) [Abstract]
Repayment of the outstanding under the Credit Agreement in full	123,000,000	123,000,000
Proceeds from stock options exercised for additional shares		$ 2,700,000	$ 2,660,000	$ 837,000