Supplemental Condensed Consolidated Financial Information (Condensed Consolidating Statements of Income) (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2021	Mar. 31, 2020
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 120,897,000	$ 122,376,000
Expenses:
Operating costs	71,563,000	83,723,000
Depreciation, depletion, and amortization	17,511,000	61,617,000
Impairments	0	741,924,000
Loss on abandonment of assets	0	17,554,000
General and administrative	6,289,000	11,553,000
Loss on disposition of assets	(472,000)	390,000
Total operating costs	94,891,000	916,761,000
Income (loss) from operations	26,006,000	(794,385,000)
Interest, net	(2,706,000)	(13,257,000)
Gain (loss) on derivatives	(22,831,000)	483,000
Other, net	76,000	60,000
Income (loss) before income taxes	(591,000)	(807,099,000)
Income tax expense (benefit)	0	(3,425,000)
Equity in net earnings from investment in subsidiaries, net of taxes		0
Net Income (loss)	(591,000)	(803,674,000)
Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interest	1,346,000	(33,180,000)
Net loss attributable to Unit Corporation	$ (1,937,000)	(770,494,000)
Consolidating Adjustments [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues		(5,458,000)
Expenses:
Operating costs		(5,458,000)
Depreciation, depletion, and amortization		0
Impairments		0
Loss on abandonment of assets		0
General and administrative		0
Loss on disposition of assets		0
Total operating costs		(5,458,000)
Income (loss) from operations		0
Interest, net		0
Gain (loss) on derivatives		0
Other, net		0
Income (loss) before income taxes		0
Income tax expense (benefit)		0
Equity in net earnings from investment in subsidiaries, net of taxes		790,554,000
Net Income (loss)		790,554,000
Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interest		33,180,000
Net loss attributable to Unit Corporation		757,374,000
Parent [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues		0
Expenses:
Operating costs		0
Depreciation, depletion, and amortization		871,000
Impairments		0
Loss on abandonment of assets		0
General and administrative		0
Loss on disposition of assets		0
Total operating costs		871,000
Income (loss) from operations		(871,000)
Interest, net		(12,739,000)
Gain (loss) on derivatives		483,000
Other, net		7,000
Income (loss) before income taxes		(13,120,000)
Income tax expense (benefit)		0
Equity in net earnings from investment in subsidiaries, net of taxes		(790,554,000)
Net Income (loss)		(803,674,000)
Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interest		(33,180,000)
Net loss attributable to Unit Corporation		(770,494,000)
Combined Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues		85,154,000
Expenses:
Operating costs		56,864,000
Depreciation, depletion, and amortization		48,473,000
Impairments		677,962,000
Loss on abandonment of assets		17,554,000
General and administrative		11,553,000
Loss on disposition of assets		396,000
Total operating costs		812,802,000
Income (loss) from operations		(727,648,000)
Interest, net		0
Gain (loss) on derivatives		0
Other, net		35,000
Income (loss) before income taxes		(727,613,000)
Income tax expense (benefit)		(3,425,000)
Equity in net earnings from investment in subsidiaries, net of taxes		0
Net Income (loss)		(724,188,000)
Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interest		0
Net loss attributable to Unit Corporation		(724,188,000)
Combined Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Revenues		42,680,000
Expenses:
Operating costs		32,317,000
Depreciation, depletion, and amortization		12,273,000
Impairments		63,962,000
Loss on abandonment of assets		0
General and administrative		0
Loss on disposition of assets		(6,000)
Total operating costs		108,546,000
Income (loss) from operations		(65,866,000)
Interest, net		(518,000)
Gain (loss) on derivatives		0
Other, net		18,000
Income (loss) before income taxes		(66,366,000)
Income tax expense (benefit)		0
Equity in net earnings from investment in subsidiaries, net of taxes		0
Net Income (loss)		(66,366,000)
Less: net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interest		(33,180,000)
Net loss attributable to Unit Corporation		$ (33,186,000)