Acquisitions and Divestitures - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) Share data in Millions, unless otherwise specified	1 Months Ended				3 Months Ended				12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended		8 Months Ended	1 Months Ended		8 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended			12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2010	Apr. 30, 2010	Jan. 31, 2010	Sep. 30, 2009	Dec. 31, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Sep. 30, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Apr. 30, 2010 Noncontrolling Interests in Discontinued Operations	Sep. 30, 2009 Noncontrolling Interests in Discontinued Operations	Apr. 30, 2010 Noncontrolling Interests in Discontinued Operations	Apr. 30, 2010 Additional Paid-in Capital	Sep. 30, 2009 Additional Paid-in Capital	Apr. 30, 2010 Additional Paid-in Capital	Dec. 31, 2011 New York, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania	Dec. 31, 2011 Counties of Butler and Armstrong in Pennsylvania acre	Dec. 31, 2010 North Dakota, West Virginia and Oklahoma	Apr. 30, 2010 Penn Virginia GP Holdings, L.P. Limited Partner	Sep. 30, 2009 Penn Virginia GP Holdings, L.P. Limited Partner	Jun. 30, 2010 Penn Virginia GP Holdings, L.P. General Partner	Dec. 31, 2011 Eagle Ford Shale acre	Dec. 31, 2010 Eagle Ford Shale acre	Dec. 31, 2011 Eagle Ford Shale Lavaca County, Texas acre	Dec. 31, 2011 Eagle Ford Shale Lavaca County, Texas Maximum Well	Dec. 31, 2011 Eagle Ford Shale Lavaca County, Texas Counterparty Well	Dec. 31, 2010 Marcellus Shale acre	Aug. 31, 2011 Arkoma Divestiture Restructuring	Jun. 30, 2011 Arkoma Divestiture Restructuring	Dec. 31, 2011 Arkoma Divestiture Restructuring	Jul. 31, 2011 Arkoma Divestiture Restructuring MMcf acre
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acres of land acquired in Gonzales County, Texas																								7,300	6,800				27,000
Gross acres to be explored																										13,000
Cost of acquired land																								$ 27,000,000	$ 31,100,000				$ 69,000,000
Current working interest in the acquired acreage																								81.00%		50.00%
Number of wells to be drilled																											6	3
Value of property interests being sold																														30,000,000
Impairment of property					34,000,000	71,000,000	9,700,000	35,100,000	104,688,000	43,067,000	102,332,000																				71,000,000	71,100,000
Number of net acres sold																			2,700														73,000
Proved reserves of natural gas equivalent sold																																	37,100
Proceeds from the sale of oil and gas property, net			23,400,000						39,368,000	25,567,000	15,083,000							1,200,000	8,100,000	2,000,000
Gain on sale of undeveloped acres																			3,300,000
Exchange of oil gas and properties			8,200,000
Sale of common units																					11.25	10.00
Proceeds from the sale of PVG units, net		199,125,000		118,080,000						199,125,000	118,080,000
Our reduced limited partner interest in PVG before the sale of units																					51.40%	77.00%	100.00%
Our reduced limited partner interest in PVG after the sale of units																					22.60%	51.40%
Sale of PVG units, net of tax												70,200,000	67,700,000	137,900,000	82,900,000	32,700,000	115,700,000
Proceeds from the sale of remaining PVG units, net	139,120,000									139,120,000
Gain on sale of discontinued operations, net of tax	51,546,000									51,546,000
Gain on sale of discontinued operations, income tax effects	$ 35,116,000									$ 35,116,000