Document And Entity Information - shares	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016	Oct. 28, 2016
Document And Entity Information
Entity Registrant Name	NEWPARK RESOURCES INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000071829
Trading Symbol	nr
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2016
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding (in shares)		84,653,570