Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)	3 Months Ended
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)	Mar. 31, 2015
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Interim Financial Statements, Basis of Presentation, Consolidation and Significant Estimates	Interim Financial Statements, Basis of Presentation, Consolidation and Significant Estimates The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of Matador and its wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries have been prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) but do not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for complete financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 filed with the SEC (the “Annual Report”). The Company proportionately consolidates certain subsidiaries that are less-than-wholly-owned and the net income and equity to the non-controlling interest in these subsidiaries have been reported separately as required by Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 810. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. In management’s opinion, these interim unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include all adjustments of a normal recurring nature necessary for a fair presentation of the Company’s consolidated financial position as of March 31, 2015, consolidated results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, consolidated changes in shareholders’ equity for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and consolidated cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014. Amounts as of December 31, 2014 are derived from the audited consolidated financial statements in the Annual Report. Accounting measurements at interim dates inherently involve greater reliance on estimates than at year end and the results for the interim periods shown in this report are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for the full year due in part to volatility in oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids prices, global economic and financial market conditions, interest rates, access to sources of liquidity, estimates of reserves, drilling risks, geological risks, transportation restrictions, oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids supply and demand, market competition and interruptions of production. The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. These estimates and assumptions may also affect disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The Company’s interim unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements are based on a number of significant estimates, including accruals for oil and natural gas revenues, accrued assets and liabilities primarily related to oil and natural gas operations, stock-based compensation, valuation of derivative instruments and oil and natural gas reserves. The estimates of oil and natural gas reserves quantities and future net cash flows are the basis for the calculations of depletion and impairment of oil and natural gas properties, as well as estimates of asset retirement obligations and certain tax accruals. While the Company believes its estimates are reasonable, changes in facts and assumptions or the discovery of new information may result in revised estimates. Actual results could differ from these estimates.
Reclassifications	Reclassifications Certain reclassifications have been made to the prior years’ financial statements to conform to the current year presentation. These reclassifications had no effect on previously reported results of operations, cash flows or retained earnings.
Restricted Cash	Restricted Cash Restricted cash represents the cash held by our less-than-wholly-owned subsidiary. By contractual agreement, the cash in this account is not to be commingled with other Company cash and is to be used only to fund the capital expenditures and operations of this less-than-wholly-owned subsidiary, which disposes of limited quantities of Company and third-party salt water.
Property and Equipment	Property and Equipment The Company uses the full-cost method of accounting for its investments in oil and natural gas properties. Under this method of accounting, all costs associated with the acquisition, exploration and development of oil and natural gas properties and reserves, including unproved and unevaluated property costs, are capitalized as incurred and accumulated in a single cost center representing the Company’s activities, which are undertaken exclusively in the United States. Such costs include lease acquisition costs, geological and geophysical expenditures, lease rentals on undeveloped properties, costs of drilling both productive and non-productive wells, capitalized interest on qualifying projects and certain general and administrative expenses directly related to acquisition, exploration and development activities, but do not include any costs related to production, selling or general corporate administrative activities. The Company capitalized approximately $1.6 million and $0.9 million of its general and administrative costs for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively. The Company capitalized approximately $1.0 million and $0.7 million of its interest expense for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively. The net capitalized costs of oil and natural gas properties are limited to the lower of unamortized costs less related deferred income taxes or the cost center “ceiling.” The cost center ceiling is defined as the sum of: (a) the present value, discounted at 10%, of future net revenues of proved oil and natural gas reserves, reduced by the estimated costs of developing these reserves, plus (b) unproved and unevaluated property costs not being amortized, plus (c) the lower of cost or estimated fair value of unproved and unevaluated properties included in the costs being amortized, if any, less (d) income tax effects related to the properties involved. Any excess of the Company’s net capitalized costs above the cost center ceiling as described above is charged to operations as a full-cost ceiling impairment. The need for a full-cost ceiling impairment is required to be assessed on a quarterly basis. The fair value of the Company’s derivative instruments is not included in the ceiling test computation as the Company does not designate these instruments as hedge instruments for accounting purposes. The estimated present value of after-tax future net cash flows from proved oil and natural gas reserves is highly dependent upon the quantities of proved reserves, the estimation of which requires substantial judgment. The associated commodity prices and applicable discount rate used in these estimates are in accordance with guidelines established by the SEC. Under these guidelines, oil and natural gas reserves are estimated using then-current operating and economic conditions, with no provision for price and cost escalations in future periods except by contractual arrangements. Future net revenues are calculated using prices that represent the arithmetic averages of first-day-of-the-month oil and natural gas prices for the previous 12-month period, and the guidelines further dictate that a 10% discount factor be used to determine the present value of future net revenues. For the period from April 2014 through March 2015, these average oil and natural gas prices were $79.21 per barrel (“Bbl”) and $3.882 per million British thermal units (“MMBtu”), respectively. For the period from April 2013 through March 2014, these average oil and natural gas prices were $94.92 per Bbl and $3.989 per MMBtu, respectively. In estimating the present value of after-tax future net cash flows from proved oil and natural gas reserves, the average oil prices were adjusted by property for quality, transportation and marketing fees and regional price differentials, and the average natural gas prices were adjusted by property for energy content, transportation and marketing fees and regional price differentials. At March 31, 2015 and 2014, the Company’s oil and natural gas reserves estimates were prepared by the Company’s engineering staff in accordance with guidelines established by the SEC and then, for the oil and natural gas reserves estimates at March 31, 2015, audited for their reasonableness and conformance with SEC guidelines by Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc., independent reservoir engineers. Using the average commodity prices, as adjusted, to determine the Company’s estimated proved oil and natural gas reserves at March 31, 2015, the Company’s net capitalized costs less related deferred income taxes exceeded the full-cost ceiling by $42.8 million. As a result, the Company recorded an impairment charge of $67.1 million to its net capitalized costs and a deferred income tax credit of $24.3 million related to the full-cost ceiling limitation at March 31, 2015. These charges are reflected in the Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated statement of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2015. Using the average commodity prices, as adjusted, to determine the Company’s estimated proved oil and natural gas reserves at March 31, 2014, the Company’s net capitalized costs less related deferred income taxes did not exceed the full-cost ceiling. As a result, the Company recorded no impairment to its net capitalized costs for the three months ended March 31, 2014. As a non-cash item, the full-cost ceiling impairment impacts the accumulated depletion and the net carrying value of the Company’s assets on its consolidated balance sheet, as well as the corresponding consolidated shareholders’ equity, but it has no impact on the Company’s consolidated net cash flows as reported. Changes in oil and natural gas production rates, oil and natural gas prices, reserves estimates, future development costs and other factors will determine the Company’s actual ceiling test computation and impairment analyses in future periods. Capitalized costs of oil and natural gas properties are amortized using the unit-of-production method based upon production and estimates of proved reserves quantities. Unproved and unevaluated property costs are excluded from the amortization base used to determine depletion. Unproved and unevaluated properties are assessed for possible impairment on a periodic basis based upon changes in operating or economic conditions. This assessment includes consideration of the following factors, among others: the assignment of proved reserves, geological and geophysical evaluations, intent to drill, remaining lease term and drilling activity and results. Upon impairment, the costs of the unproved and unevaluated properties are immediately included in the amortization base. Exploratory dry holes are included in the amortization base immediately upon determination that the well is not productive.
Allocation of Purchase Price in Business Combinations	Allocation of Purchase Price in Business Combinations As part of the Company’s business strategy, it periodically pursues the acquisition of oil and natural gas properties. The purchase price in a business combination is allocated to the assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their fair values as of the acquisition date, which may occur many months after the announcement date. Therefore, while the consideration to be paid may be fixed, the fair value of the assets acquired and liabilities assumed is subject to change during the period between the announcement date and the acquisition date. The most significant estimates in the allocation typically relate to the value assigned to proved oil and natural gas reserves and unproved and unevaluated properties. As the allocation of the purchase price is subject to significant estimates and subjective judgments, the accuracy of this assessment is inherently uncertain.
Earnings (Loss) Per Common Share	Earnings (Loss) Per Common Share The Company reports basic earnings (loss) per common share, which excludes the effect of potentially dilutive securities, and diluted earnings per common share, which includes the effect of all potentially dilutive securities, unless their impact is anti-dilutive.
Fair Value Measurements	Fair Value Measurements The Company measures and reports certain assets and liabilities on a fair value basis. Fair value is the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (exit price). The Company follows Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) guidance establishing a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation methods used to measure fair value.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements	Recent Accounting Pronouncements Revenue from Contracts with Customers. In May 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update, or ASU, 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), which specifies how and when to recognize revenue. This standard requires expanded disclosures surrounding revenue recognition and is intended to improve, and converge with international standards, the financial reporting requirements for revenue from contracts with customers. ASU 2014-09 will become effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, i.e., in the Company’s first fiscal quarter of 2017. The Company is currently evaluating the impact, if any, of the adoption of this ASU on its consolidated financial statements. Interest - Imputation of Interest. In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-03, Interest - Imputation of Interest (Subtopic 935-30): Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs, which requires companies that have historically presented debt issuance costs as an asset to present those costs as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of the underlying debt liability. The guidance requires retrospective application in financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 31, 2015 and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016. The impact of the adoption of this ASU on the Company’s financial statements will be to reduce total assets and total liabilities by the carrying value of unamortized debt issuance costs at the time of adoption.

Disclosure of accounting policy for completed business combinations (purchase method, acquisition method or combination of entities under common control). This accounting policy may include a general discussion of the purchase method or acquisition method of accounting (including for example, the treatment accorded contingent consideration, the identification of assets and liabilities, the purchase price allocation process, how the fair values of acquired assets and liabilities are determined) and the entity's specific application thereof. An entity that acquires another entity in a leveraged buyout transaction generally discloses the accounting policy followed by the acquiring entity in determining the basis used to value its interest in the acquired entity, and the rationale for that accounting policy.

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Entity's cash and cash equivalents accounting policy with respect to restricted balances. Restrictions may include legally restricted deposits held as compensating balances against short-term borrowing arrangements, contracts entered into with others, or company statements of intention with regard to particular deposits; however, time deposits and short-term certificates of deposit are not generally included in legally restricted deposits.

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Disclosure of accounting policy for computing basic and diluted earnings or loss per share for each class of common stock and participating security. Addresses all significant policy factors, including any antidilutive items that have been excluded from the computation and takes into account stock dividends, splits and reverse splits that occur after the balance sheet date of the latest reporting period but before the issuance of the financial statements.

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Disclosure of accounting policy for long-lived, physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale. Includes, but is not limited to, basis of assets, depreciation and depletion methods used, including composite deprecation, estimated useful lives, capitalization policy, accounting treatment for costs incurred for repairs and maintenance, capitalized interest and the method it is calculated, disposals and impairments.

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