Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Details) (USD $)	0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended								3 Months Ended		3 Months Ended								0 Months Ended		3 Months Ended
	Jan. 19, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Sep. 30, 2012 Options Held [Member] Other Assets [Member]	Jan. 19, 2011 Options Held [Member] Other Income [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Other Current Assets [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Accrued Liabilities [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Drilling Services Division [Member] drilling_rigs	Oct. 19, 2012 Drilling Services Division [Member] drilling_rigs	Mar. 31, 2012 Wireline Units [Member] drilling_rigs	Oct. 19, 2012 South Texas [Member] Drilling Services Division [Member] drilling_rigs	Oct. 19, 2012 East Texas [Member] Drilling Services Division [Member] drilling_rigs	Oct. 19, 2012 West Texas [Member] Drilling Services Division [Member] drilling_rigs	Oct. 19, 2012 North Dakota [Member] Drilling Services Division [Member] drilling_rigs	Oct. 19, 2012 Utah [Member] Drilling Services Division [Member] drilling_rigs	Oct. 19, 2012 Appalachia [Member] Drilling Services Division [Member] drilling_rigs	Oct. 19, 2012 Colombia [Member] Drilling Services Division [Member] drilling_rigs	Oct. 02, 2012 Future Period Analysis [Member]	Oct. 19, 2012 Future Period Analysis [Member] Drilling Services Division [Member] Term Contract [Member] drilling_rigs	Dec. 31, 2012 Future Period Analysis [Member] Production Services Division [Member] coiled_tubing_units well_service_rigs wireline_tubing_units	Oct. 19, 2012 Future Period Analysis [Member] Production Services Division [Member] well_service_rigs wireline_tubing_units coiled_tubing_units	Oct. 19, 2012 Constuction completed [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] Drilling Services Division [Member] drilling_rigs	Oct. 19, 2012 Estimated to Become Active within 3 months [Member] [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] Drilling Services Division [Member] drilling_rigs	Oct. 19, 2012 Estimated to Become Active in 9 Months [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] Drilling Services Division [Member] drilling_rigs	Oct. 19, 2012 Not under term estimated completion within 6 months [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] Drilling Services Division [Member] drilling_rigs	Oct. 19, 2012 Idle [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] Colombia [Member] Drilling Services Division [Member] drilling_rigs	Oct. 19, 2012 Currently Under Drilling Contract [Member] Active [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] Drilling Services Division [Member] drilling_rigs	Oct. 19, 2012 Currently Under Drilling Contract [Member] Active [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] Drilling Services Division [Member] Term Contract [Member] drilling_rigs term_contracts	Oct. 19, 2012 Currently Under Drilling Contract [Member] Active [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] Colombia [Member] Drilling Services Division [Member] Term Contract [Member] term_contracts	Oct. 19, 2012 Currently Under Drilling Contract [Member] Idle [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] Colombia [Member] Drilling Services Division [Member] drilling_rigs	Oct. 19, 2012 550 Horsepower [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] Production Services Division [Member] well_service_rigs	Oct. 19, 2012 600 Horsepower [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] Production Services Division [Member] well_service_rigs	Sep. 30, 2012 Fishing and rental tools [Member] Production Services Division [Member]	Oct. 19, 2012 Minimum [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] Drilling Services Division [Member]	Oct. 19, 2012 Maximum [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] Drilling Services Division [Member]
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents Items [Line Items]
Drilling Rigs													68		13	4	22	12	5	4	8									2	58	46		1
Drilling Rigs Under Term Contract To Be Built																							10			6	1	2	1			6
Segment Reporting Information, Disposed Drililng Rigs												2
Asset Impairment Charges		$ 0	$ 484,000	$ 1,032,000	$ 484,000							$ 600,000		$ 400,000
Well Service Rigs																									105										95	10
Wireline Units																									120
Coiled Tubing Units																									11
Property, Plant and Equipment, Gross		1,631,847,000		1,631,847,000		1,336,926,000																															15,600,000
Well Service Rigs, Additions in Next Fiscal Period																								3
Coiled Tubing Units, Additions in Next Fiscal Period																								2
Segment Reporting Information, Disposed Wireline Units														2
Drilling Rigs, Contractual Term																																						6 months	4 years
Assigned Drilling Rigs, Number of Contracts Expiring in Six Months																																29	6
Assigned Drilling Rigs, Number of Contracts Expiring in One Year																																10
Assigned Drilling Rigs, Number of Contracts Expiring in Eighteen Months																																2
Assigned Drilling Rigs, Number of Contracts Expiring in Two Years																																2
Assigned Drilling Rigs, Number of Contracts Expiring in Four Years																																3
Restricted Cash and Investments [Abstract]
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents		700,000		700,000
Restricted Cash and Cash Equivalents, Current										700,000
Payments for Obligations from Previous Acquisition, Current											700,000
Investments [Abstract]
Auction Market Preferred Securities, Stock Series, Value							15,900,000
Available-for-sale Securities, Gross Realized Gains (Losses), Sale Proceeds	12,600,000
Auction Market Preferred Securities, Sales price as a Percentage of Par Value	79.00%
Derivative Assets, Noncurrent									600,000
Payments for (Proceeds from) Other Investing Activities																						600,000
Derivative Assets, Current								600,000
Construction in Progress, Gross		148,000,000		148,000,000
Interest Costs Incurred, Capitalized				$ 8,400,000