Debt (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	0 Months Ended	6 Months Ended					6 Months Ended				6 Months Ended						6 Months Ended
	Jan. 17, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2014 EXCO Resources Credit Agreement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Senior Unsecured Notes due 2018 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Senior Unsecured Notes due 2018 [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Compass Production Partners Credit Agreement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Senior Unsecured Notes due 2022 [Member]	Apr. 16, 2014 Senior Unsecured Notes due 2022 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Senior Unsecured Notes due 2022 [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member] Minimum [Member] Compass Production Partners Credit Agreement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member] Maximum [Member] Compass Production Partners Credit Agreement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Alternate Base Rate (ABR) [Member] Minimum [Member] Compass Production Partners Credit Agreement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Alternate Base Rate (ABR) [Member] Maximum [Member] Compass Production Partners Credit Agreement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] EXCO Resources Credit Agreement [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] EXCO Resources Credit Agreement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member] Minimum [Member] EXCO Resources Credit Agreement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member] Maximum [Member] EXCO Resources Credit Agreement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Alternate Base Rate (ABR) [Member] Minimum [Member] EXCO Resources Credit Agreement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] Alternate Base Rate (ABR) [Member] Maximum [Member] EXCO Resources Credit Agreement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Term Loan [Member] EXCO Resources Credit Agreement [Member]	Apr. 16, 2014 Term Loan [Member] EXCO Resources Credit Agreement [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Term Loan [Member] EXCO Resources Credit Agreement [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Compass Production Partners [Member] Compass Production Partners Credit Agreement [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Compass Production Partners [Member] Compass Production Partners Credit Agreement [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding indebtedness							$ 337,000,000								$ 182,492,000	$ 763,866,000					$ 0	$ 297,800,000	$ 298,500,000	$ 85,792,000	$ 88,485,000
Borrowing base							400,000,000								875,000,000
Unused borrowing base															685,600,000
Line of credit facility, maturity date															Jul. 31, 2018
Proceeds from issuance of common stock	272,900,000	271,772,000	42,000
Increase in interest rate until reduction of debt from asset sales				1.00%
Debt instrument, principal outstanding					750,000,000	750,000,000		500,000,000		0
Debt instrument, interest rate					7.50%			8.50%
Unamortized discount					6,637,000	7,293,000															0		2,780,000
Proceeds from Debt, Net of Issuance Costs								490,000,000
LIBOR rate to compute the variable rate on the debt instrument															0.20%
Debt instrument, interest rate during period							2.70%								1.90%
Amount of dividend restriction				$ 75,000,000
Percentage of Revolving Commitment needed to pay dividend				10.00%
Current ratio, numerator				1.0			1.0
Current ratio, denominator				1.0			1.0
Ratio of consolidated funded indebtedness to consolidated EBITDAX, numerator				4.5			4.5
Ratio of consolidated funded indebtedness to consolidated EBITDAX, denominator				1.0			1.0
Debt Instrument, Issued Price, Percentage									100.00%
Debt Instrument, Basis Spread on Variable Rate											1.75%	2.75%	0.75%	1.75%			1.75%	2.75%	0.75%	1.75%