Business Segment Information (Summary Of Financial Data By Segment) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended										12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Sep. 30, 2010	Jun. 30, 2010	Mar. 31, 2010	Sep. 30, 2009	Jun. 30, 2009	Dec. 31, 2011		Dec. 31, 2010		Dec. 31, 2009
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 396,185	$ 372,496	$ 338,319	$ 291,607	$ 306,337	$ 392,669	$ 299,262	$ 201,570			$ 1,398,607		$ 1,199,838		$ 1,461,687
Income (loss) from operations											235,528	[1]	(94,656)	[1]	203,815	[1]
Net interest expense and other											99,953		86,324		51,495
Equity in earnings of equity investments											22,215		19,469		32,329
Income (loss) before income taxes											147,980		(163,751)		261,992
Provision (benefit) for income taxes											14,903		(39,598)		95,822
Identifiable assets	3,582,347				3,592,020						3,582,347		3,592,020		3,779,533
Capital expenditures											219,769		206,772		423,373
Depreciation and amortization											311,103		317,116		262,617
Goodwill impairments					16,700								16,743	[2]
Impairment charges	107,500	2,400	22,700	0	9,200	900	159,900	11,100	64,600	48,200	132,603		181,083		120,550
Contracting Services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues											738,235		780,339		796,158
Income (loss) from operations											107,013		77,391		118,176
Net interest expense and other											765		1,299		(2,280)
Income (loss) before income taxes											97,798		72,459		120,456
Provision (benefit) for income taxes											29,235		42,828		43,334
Identifiable assets	2,006,065				1,856,016						2,006,065		1,856,016		1,738,005
Capital expenditures											69,259		65,949		204,228
Depreciation and amortization											73,291		66,333		53,411
Shelf Contracting [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues															404,709
Income (loss) from operations															59,077
Net interest expense and other															6,642
Income (loss) before income taxes															52,435
Provision (benefit) for income taxes															16,275
Capital expenditures															39,569
Depreciation and amortization															34,243
Oil And Gas [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues											696,607		425,369		385,338
Income (loss) from operations											129,936		(160,206)		91,668
Net interest expense and other											25,833		18,886		20,152
Income (loss) before income taxes											104,103		(179,092)		71,516
Provision (benefit) for income taxes											35,858		(62,954)		23,352
Identifiable assets	1,041,506				1,223,014						1,041,506		1,223,014		1,541,153
Capital expenditures											119,614		84,554		137,168
Depreciation and amortization											219,915		235,290		168,101
Production Facilities [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues											75,460	[3]	117,300	[3]	3,395	[3]
Income (loss) from operations											38,404	[3]	63,863	[3]	(3,918)	[3]
Net interest expense and other											442		865		2,011
Income (loss) before income taxes											58,064	[3]	86,100	[3]	18,300	[3]
Provision (benefit) for income taxes											19,233		29,049		6,198
Identifiable assets	534,776				512,990						534,776		512,990		499,497
Capital expenditures											30,896		56,269		42,408
Depreciation and amortization											14,935		9,907		3,295
Corporate [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Income (loss) from operations											(39,918)		(56,609)		(47,734)
Intercompany Elimination [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues											(111,695)		(123,170)		(127,913)
Income (loss) from operations											93		(19,095)		(13,454)
Corporate And Eliminations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net interest expense and other											72,913		65,274		24,970
Income (loss) before income taxes											(111,985)		(143,218)		(715)
Provision (benefit) for income taxes											(69,423)		(48,521)		6,663
Depreciation and amortization											2,962		5,586		3,567
Discontinued Operations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Identifiable assets															$ 878

[1] Includes $16.7 million of goodwill impairment charge for year ending December 31, 2010 related to our contracting services segment. Also includes approximately $132.6 million, $181.1 million and $120.6 million of asset impairment charges for certain oil and gas properties for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 respectively.

[2] Amount reflects full write off of goodwill associated with our WOSEA operations.

[3] In April 2009, Kommandor LLC commenced leasing the HP I to us under terms of a charter arrangement following the completion of the initial conversion of the vessel (Note 8). The HP I was certified as a floating oil and gas production unit in June 2010 following the completion of installation of oil and gas processing facilities on the vessel. The HP I participated in the BP oil spill and containment response efforts and is currently being utilized as the processing unit for our Phoenix field.