SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES - Addt. (Details) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($) item	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($) item	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($) item
PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT
Depreciation associated with abandonments	$ 39,300	$ 43,600	$ 23,000
Number of idle conventional rigs decommissioned | item		23	9
Asset impairment charge	6,250	$ 39,242
RESTRICTED CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
Restricted cash and cash equivalents	29,600	32,000
Restricted cash and cash equivalents from initial capitalization of captive company	2,000
Additional cash and cash equivalents restricted at the election of management for potential insurance claims	27,600
Prepaid expenses and other	27,631	29,998
Other assets	2,000	2,000
CAPITALIZATION OF INTEREST
Capitalized interest	2,800	7,000	$ 7,700
DRILLING REVENUES
Reimbursements received	125,900	302,200	326,700
Early termination revenue	219,000	222,300	11,700
RENT REVENUES
Minimum rents	9,196	9,608	9,400
Overage and percentage rents	1,211	1,030	$ 1,090
Fiscal Year
2016	7,763
2017	6,076
2018	4,594
2019	4,007
2020	2,379
Thereafter	4,642
Total	29,461
Cost and accumulated depreciation for real estate properties
Real estate properties	62,929	65,466
Accumulated depreciation	(40,777)	(43,326)
Real estate properties, Net	22,152	$ 22,140
U.S. Land
PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT
Asset impairment charge	$ 6,300
Minimum
RENT REVENUES
Lease term	3 years
Maximum
RENT REVENUES
Lease term	10 years
Contract drilling equipment | Minimum
PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT
Estimated useful lives	4 years
Contract drilling equipment | Maximum
PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT
Estimated useful lives	15 years
Real estate buildings and equipment | Minimum
PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT
Estimated useful lives	10 years
Real estate buildings and equipment | Maximum
PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT
Estimated useful lives	45 years
Land Rigs
PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT
Asset impairment charge	$ 0
Land Rigs | International Land
PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT
Number of impaired land rigs | item		7
Land Rigs | International Land | Assets held for sale
PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT
Number of impaired land rigs | item	6
Land Rigs | International Land | Discounted cash flow
PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT
Fair value of land rigs		$ 20,600
Other assets | Minimum
PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT
Estimated useful lives	2 years
Other assets | Maximum
PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT
Estimated useful lives	23 years