OIL AND NATURAL GAS OPERATIONS (Unaudited) - Costs Incurred (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Property acquisition:
Proved	$ 4,066	$ 1,866	$ 2,582
Unproved	143,667	85,690	68,514
Exploration	349,463	649,764	972,164
Development	89,624	372,177	408,949
Total costs incurred	$ 586,820	$ 1,109,497	$ 1,452,209

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Costs incurred, including capitalized costs and costs charged to expense, associated with the acquisition of oil and gas properties that have proved reserves.

+ References

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-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 932
-SubTopic 235
-Section 50
-Paragraph 18
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Costs incurred, including capitalized costs and costs charged to expense, associated with the acquisition of oil and gas properties that have unproved reserves.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
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Development costs incurred, including capitalized costs and costs charged to expense, in oil and gas activities.

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Exploration costs incurred, including capitalized costs and costs charged to expense, in oil and gas activities.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Glossary Exploration
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6512329

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Amount of costs incurred related to oil and gas property acquisition, exploration and development activities, including capitalized costs and costs charged to expense.

+ References

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