Acquisitions and Divestitures (Details Textuals) (USD $)	12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended					1 Months Ended						12 Months Ended			10 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Mar. 09, 2010	Feb. 11, 2010	Dec. 31, 2010 Accrued Employee Compensation Costs Encore [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Third party legal and accounting fees [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Third party legal and accounting fees [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Employee related severance and termination costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Employee related severance and termination costs [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 Genesis [Member]	Feb. 28, 2010 Genesis General Partner [Member]	Mar. 31, 2010 Genesis LP Unit [Member]	Dec. 30, 2010 Encore Energy Partners LP ("ENP") [Member]	Dec. 29, 2010 ENP GP Investment [Member]	Feb. 28, 2010 8.25% Senior Subordinated Notes due 2020 [Member]	Mar. 09, 2010 Bank Credit Agreement [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Southern Properties [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Cleveland Sand Play Properties [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Haynesville and East Texas Natural Gas Properties [Member]	Dec. 30, 2010 Legacy Encore [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Legacy Encore [Member]	Mar. 09, 2010 Legacy Encore [Member]	Dec. 29, 2010 Encore Energy Partners LP ("ENP") [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Encore Energy Partners LP ("ENP") [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Riley Ridge Phase 2 [Member]	Oct. 31, 2011 Riley Ridge Phase 2 [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Genesis Energy [Member]	Dec. 29, 2010 Vanguard Natural Resources [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Riley Ridge Phase 1 [Member]	Oct. 31, 2010 Riley Ridge Phase 1 [Member]
Acquisitions and Divestitures (Textuals) [Abstract]
Working interest acquired in a purchase of oil and natural gas properties																											57.50%				42.50%
Cash payments																						$ 833,900,000				$ 199,779,000				$ 132,300,000
Ownership interest in Riley Ridge plant																											57.50%				42.50%
Deferred Riley Ridge acquisition consideration	15,000,000	0																								15,000,000
Aggregate purchase price																							4,800,000,000			214,800,000
Common stock issued to Encore stockholders																						135,200,000
Denbury shares issued in Encore merger as a percentage of outstanding Denbury shares				34.00%
Total fair value of common stock issued																							2,100,000,000
Face value of senior subordinated notes					1,000,000,000											1,000,000,000
Borrowing base of Bank Credit Agreement	1,600,000,000																1,600,000,000
Fair value of Encore assets acquired less liabilities assumed																						2,400,000
Closing price per share of Denbury stock				$ 15.43
Recognition of goodwill																						1,061,123,000				3,900,000
Revenues recognized from current period acquisitions																					623,400,000
Net Field Operating Income								426,000,000
Business Combination, Acquisition Related Costs	4,377,000	92,271,000	8,467,000				800,000	48,500,000	3,600,000	43,800,000
Net proceeds from sale of interest in Genesis Energy, LLC												84,000,000	79,000,000
Payment under incentive compensation agreement												14,900,000
Pre-tax gain on sale of interest in Genesis	0	101,537,000	0																									101,500,000
After-tax gain on sale of interest in Genesis																												63,000,000
Net proceeds from sales of oil and natural gas properties and equipment	69,370,000	1,458,029,000	516,814,000															892,100,000	32,100,000	213,800,000					300,000,000
Total consideration		1,500,000,000
Ownership percentage											12.00%			46.00%	100.00%
Number of units sold in the sale of investment																								20,900,000
Number of equity Shares received as consideration for sale of Business																													3,137,255
Equity consideration received on sale of business																													93,000,000
Debt transferred in disposition																													234,000,000
Accounts Payable and Accrued Liabilities, Current	429,336,000	350,068,000				16,500,000
Other Liabilities, Noncurrent	20,756,000	29,834,000				3,300,000
Accrued Employee Related Severance Costs Encore																						$ 19,800,000