Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Schedule of Segment Reporting Information, Assets by Segment (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended			3 Months Ended																						12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011 Day	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Sep. 30, 2011 Drilling Services Division [Member] drilling_rigs	Feb. 10, 2012 Drilling Services Division [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] drilling_rigs	Feb. 10, 2012 Drilling Services Division [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] Minimum [Member]	Feb. 10, 2012 Drilling Services Division [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] Maximum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Drilling Services Division [Member] Term Contract [Member] drilling_rigs	Feb. 10, 2012 Drilling Services Division [Member] Term Contract [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] drilling_rigs	Feb. 10, 2012 Drilling Services Division [Member] Estimated to Become Active in 6 Months [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] drilling_rigs	Feb. 10, 2012 Drilling Services Division [Member] Estimated to Become Active Between 6 and 12 Months [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] drilling_rigs	Feb. 10, 2012 Drilling Services Division [Member] Active [Member] Currently Under Drilling Contract [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] drilling_rigs	Feb. 10, 2012 Drilling Services Division [Member] Active [Member] Currently Under Drilling Contract [Member] Term Contract [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] drilling_rigs term_contracts	Feb. 10, 2012 Drilling Services Division [Member] Idle [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] drilling_rigs	Feb. 10, 2012 Drilling Services Division [Member] Idle [Member] Assigned to Contract in Future Period [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] drilling_rigs	Feb. 10, 2012 Drilling Services Division [Member] South Texas [Member] drilling_rigs	Feb. 10, 2012 Drilling Services Division [Member] East Texas [Member] drilling_rigs	Sep. 30, 2011 Drilling Services Division [Member] East Texas [Member] drilling_rigs	Feb. 10, 2012 Drilling Services Division [Member] West Texas [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] drilling_rigs	Feb. 10, 2012 Drilling Services Division [Member] North Dakota [Member] drilling_rigs	Feb. 10, 2012 Drilling Services Division [Member] Utah [Member] drilling_rigs	Sep. 30, 2011 Drilling Services Division [Member] Utah [Member] term_contracts	Feb. 10, 2012 Drilling Services Division [Member] Appalachia [Member] drilling_rigs	Feb. 10, 2012 Drilling Services Division [Member] Colombia [Member] drilling_rigs	Sep. 30, 2011 Drilling Services Division [Member] Oklahoma [Member] drilling_rigs	Dec. 31, 2011 Production Services Division [Member] well_service_rigs wireline_tubing_units coiled_tubing_units	Jan. 31, 2012 Production Services Division [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member]	Feb. 10, 2012 Production Services Division [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] well_service_rigs coiled_tubing_units wireline_tubing_units	Feb. 10, 2012 Production Services Division [Member] Five Hundred Fifty Horsepower [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] well_service_rigs	Feb. 10, 2012 Production Services Division [Member] Six Hundred Horsepower [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] well_service_rigs	Feb. 10, 2012 Production Services Division [Member] Four Hundred Horsepower [Member] Future Period Analysis [Member] well_service_rigs
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Drilling Rigs					64							55	44	9	3	15	5		18	9	4		5	8
Segment Reporting Information, Drilling Rigs Held for Sale				6														2							4
Segment Reporting Information, Drilling Rigs Held-for-use																						1
Asset Impairment Charges	$ 484	$ 0	$ 0	$ 484
Segment Reporting Information, Disposed Drililng Rigs				7
Drilling Rigs Under Term Contract To Be Built								10	10	5	5
Well Service Rigs																												91	81	9	1
Well Service Rigs, Utilization Percentage																											86.00%
Wireline Units																												109
Coiled Tubing Units																												10
Property, Plant and Equipment, Gross	$ 1,336,926	$ 1,097,179
Well Service Rigs, Additions in Next Fiscal Period																										13
Wireline Units, Additions in Next Fiscal Period																										18
Coiled Tubing Units, Additions in Next Fiscal Period																										3
Drilling Rigs, Contractual Term						6 months	4 years
Assigned Drilling Rigs, Number of Contracts Expiring in Six Months													21
Assigned Drilling Rigs, Number of Contracts Expiring in One Year													22
Assigned Drilling Rigs, Number of Contracts Expiring in Two Years													1
Average Term to Drill Individual Well, Maximum	60