Document and Entity Information Document and Entity Information - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Feb. 13, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]
Document Type	10-K/A
Amendment Flag	true
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2017
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2017
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Trading Symbol	unt
Entity Registrant Name	UNIT CORP
Entity Central Index Key	0000798949
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		53,061,832
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Public Float			$ 958,140,471
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Amendment Description	In the course of preparing our consolidated financial statements for the quarter ended June 30, 2018, we determined that a material weakness existed in our internal control structure for the year ended December 31, 2017 and remained unremediated at the end of the first quarter of 2018. Item 9A Controls and Procedures has been amended herein to reflect that change. Additionally, certain immaterial errors were identified in the statement of cash flows related to the operating activities and the investing activities sections of the statement of cash flows. While not material to any annual period, in order to facilitate comparisons among periods, we have revised our consolidated financial statements included in this amendment to reflect the revisions to our consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017.