Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011
Operating activities:
Net income	$ 21,930	$ 29,908
Reconciliation of net income to cash provided by (used in) operating activities:
Depreciation, depletion, amortization, and accretion	56,786	78,021
Impairments of long-lived assets	0	12,534
Provision (benefit) for deferred income taxes	1,083	11,241
Equity-based compensation expense	7,393	4,417
Provision for doubtful accounts	(893)	963
Gain on sale of assets	(3,135)	(59,784)
Other non-cash charges and credits	14,219	34,721
Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of assets acquired:
Accounts receivable	(71,758)	(3,541)
Inventories	(3,098)	6,006
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	4,790	26,422
Trade accounts payable and accrued expenses	19,022	(29,695)
Decommissioning liabilities	(66,121)	(66,147)
Other	2,338	3,317
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	(17,444)	48,383
Investing activities:
Purchases of property, plant, and equipment	(80,608)	(99,857)
Acquisition of businesses, net	(163,305)	(1,500)
Proceeds on sale of property, plant, and equipment	12,752	187,843
Other investing activities	3,277	(26,386)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	(227,884)	60,100
Financing activities:
Proceeds from long-term debt	64,176	0
Payments of long-term debt	(2,073)	0
Compressco Partners' distributions	(3,393)	(125)
Proceeds from exercise of stock options	675	2,432
Proceeds from issuance of Compressco Partners' common units, net of underwriters' discount	0	50,234
Compressco Partners' offering costs	0	(2,038)
Excess tax benefit from equity compensation	205	1,268
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	59,590	51,771
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash	2,234	(726)
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(183,504)	159,528
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	204,412	65,360
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	20,908	224,888
Supplemental cash flow information:
Interest paid	9,083	9,073
Income taxes paid (refunded)	7,066	(13,887)
Supplemental disclosure of non-cash investing and financing activities:
Adjustment of fair value of decommissioning liabilities capitalized to oil and gas properties	$ 0	$ 1,790