Common Stock (Details) (USD $)	0 Months Ended				1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended						1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended							0 Months Ended
	Sep. 10, 2013	Mar. 07, 2012	Feb. 07, 2012	Feb. 02, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Apr. 30, 2013	Feb. 29, 2012	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2013 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]	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, 2012 Class B [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Class B [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Class B [Member] Common Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Class B [Member] Minimum [Member]	Feb. 07, 2012 Matador Resources Company [Member]	Mar. 07, 2012 Matador Resources Company [Member] Over-allotments [Member]	Mar. 02, 2012 Matador Resources Company [Member] Over-allotments [Member]	Feb. 02, 2012 Initial Public Offering [Member]	Feb. 07, 2012 Initial Public Offering [Member] Over-allotments [Member]	Mar. 02, 2012 Initial Public Offering [Member] Over-allotments [Member]	Feb. 07, 2012 Selling shareholders [Member]	Feb. 02, 2012 Selling shareholders [Member]	Jan. 31, 2012 Selling shareholders [Member]	Mar. 02, 2012 Selling shareholders [Member] Over-allotments [Member]
Subsidiary, Sale of Stock [Line Items]
Cumulative annual dividends per share rate																							$ 0.26
Dividends declared									$ 27,643	$ 274,853										$ 27,643	$ 274,853
Debt and Equity, Authorized Amount						300,000,000
Debt and Equity, Remaining Authorized Amount								151,000,000
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, Issued for Cash	9,775,000
Company offering shares	1,275,000																													700,000
Public Offering, Underwriting Discounts, Commissions, and Direct Offering Costs	7,400,000
Proceeds from issuance of common stock	141,700,000							149,069,000	146,510,000	592,000					600,000
Repayments of Long-term Debt					130,000,000
Proceeds From Public Offering Used to Fund Working Capital	11,700,000
Initial offering price per share																											$ 12.00	$ 12.00			$ 12.00
Company's common stock began trading, date				Feb. 01, 2012
Issuance of common stock			12,209,167																								11,666,667
Common stock, shares issued												66,958,867	56,778,718					1,900,000						11,666,667								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
Shareholders offering for sales																														1,300,000
Option to purchase additional shares																													1,550,000
Option to purchase additional shares from company																									542,500	542,500
Option to purchase additional shares from selling shareholders																																	1,007,500
Net Proceeds																		20,500,000										133,600,000
Repay in borrowings then outstanding under its Credit Agreement in full							123,000,000	130,000,000	123,000,000	103,000,000
Conversion of Class B common stock to Class A common stock, shares											1,030,700			1,030,700		1,031,000						(1,031,000)
Share issued to options								5,000						295,500		296,000	93,000
Proceeds from stock options exercised for additional shares								$ 0	$ 2,660,000	$ 837,000				$ 2,700,000
Options expired unexercised or were forfeited, share price																			$ 11.00
Issuance of additional shares of common stock															53,772
Private offering and sale of additional shares of the company's class A common stock																			$ 11.00
Forfeitures of non-vested restricted stock awards								105,126	21,876