Common Stock (Details) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended					1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Feb. 29, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010 Shareholders	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2010 Treasury Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Class A [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Class A [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Class A [Member]	Feb. 29, 2012 Class A [Member] Common Stock [Member]	Jan. 31, 2011 Class A [Member] Common Stock [Member]	May 31, 2010 Class A [Member] Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Class A [Member] Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Class A [Member] Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Class A [Member] Common Stock [Member]	Oct. 31, 2010 Class A [Member] Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Class A [Member] Treasury Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Class A [Member] Maximum [Member] Treasury Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Class A [Member] Minimum [Member] Treasury Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Class B [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Class B [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Class B [Member] Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Class B [Member] Maximum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Class B [Member] Minimum [Member]	Feb. 07, 2012 Matador Resources Company [Member]	Mar. 02, 2012 Matador Resources Company [Member] Over-allotments [Member]	Feb. 29, 2012 Initial Public Offering [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Initial Public Offering [Member]	Feb. 02, 2012 Initial Public Offering [Member]	Jan. 31, 2012 Initial Public Offering [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Initial Public Offering [Member] Over-allotments [Member]	Mar. 02, 2012 Initial Public Offering [Member] Over-allotments [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Selling shareholders [Member]	Feb. 07, 2012 Selling shareholders [Member]	Jan. 31, 2012 Selling shareholders [Member]	Mar. 02, 2012 Selling shareholders [Member] Over-allotments [Member]
Common Stock (Textual) [Abstract]
Cumulative annual dividends per share rate																				$ 0.26			$ 0.66	$ 0.26
Dividends declared		$ 27,643	$ 274,853	$ 274,853
Initial offering price per share																													$ 12.00		$ 12.00		$ 12.00
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
Common stock, shares issued								56,778,718	42,916,668			11,000			1,900,000					1,030,700	0				11,666,667					13,333,334					1,550,000
Initial public offering closure date		Mar. 07, 2012			Feb. 07, 2012
Additional issuance of common stock																																		2,000,000
Initial offering period		30 days
Company offering shares																																		700,000
Shareholders offering for sales																																		1,300,000
Option to purchase additional shares																																1,550,000
Option to purchase additional shares from company																										542,500
Option to purchase additional shares from selling shareholders																																				1,007,500
Issuance of common stock		12,209,167				6,000	6,000																				11,666,667
Net Proceeds															20,500,000																133,600,000
Conversion of Class B common stock to Class A common stock, shares										1,030,700			(1,031,000)									1,031,000
Share issued to options		296,000								295,500			296,000	93,000	393,000
Proceeds from stock options exercised for additional shares		2,660,000	837,000	1,978,000						2,700,000
Options expired unexercised or were forfeited, share price		$ 10.00										$ 9.00				$ 11.00		$ 9.00	$ 7.50
Proceeds from issuance of common stock		146,510,000	592,000	20,652,000							600,000	99,000
Issuance of additional shares of common stock											53,772
Company repurchased shares							117,505
Purchased shares of common stock class A																	1,100,000
Purchased shares of common stock class A per share price																		$ 11.00	$ 9.00
Common Stock (Additional Textual) [Abstract]
Repay in borrowings then outstanding under its Credit Agreement in full	123,000,000
Private offering and sale of additional shares of the company's class A common stock		$ 10.00										$ 9.00				$ 11.00		$ 9.00	$ 7.50
Number of shareholders from whom the share purchased				5
Purchased shares of common stock class A from five shareholders				1,000,000
Purchased shares of common stock class A from five shareholders per share price				$ 9.00
Purchased shares of common stock class A from five shareholders value				$ 9,000,000
Forfeitures of non-vested restricted stock awards		21,876