Additional Information with Respect to Non-vested Shares (Detail) (Employee Stock Option, USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2013 Y
Employee Stock Option
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Aggregate intrinsic value	$ 5
Weighted-average remaining contractual term	8.90
Weighted-average remaining expected term	3.90
Weighted-average remaining vesting period	1 year 9 months 22 days
Unrecognized compensation cost	$ 6.3

Share Based Compensation Arrangement by Share Based Payment Award, Options, Expected to Vest, Aggregate Intrinsic Value

No definition available.

Name:	pten_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardOptionsExpectedToVestAggregateIntrinsicValue
Namespace Prefix:	pten_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Share Based Compensation Arrangement By Share Based Payment Award Options Expected To Vest Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term 1

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	pten_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardOptionsExpectedToVestWeightedAverageRemainingContractualTermOne
Namespace Prefix:	pten_
Data Type:	xbrli:decimalItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Share Based Compensation Arrangement By Share Based Payment Award Options Expected To Vest Weighted Average Remaining Expected Term

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	pten_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardOptionsExpectedToVestWeightedAverageRemainingExpectedTerm
Namespace Prefix:	pten_
Data Type:	xbrli:decimalItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Options, Nonvested, Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	pten_SharebasedCompensationArrangementBySharebasedPaymentAwardOptionsNonvestedWeightedAverageRemainingContractualTerm
Namespace Prefix:	pten_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Unrecognized cost of unvested share-based compensation awards.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 718

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 2

-Subparagraph (i)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6415400&loc=d3e5070-113901

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EmployeeServiceShareBasedCompensationNonvestedAwardsTotalCompensationCostNotYetRecognized
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration