Property, Plant and Equipment Joint Venture Activity (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013 Noble JV[Member] [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Hess [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 Noble JV[Member] [Member] acre	Dec. 31, 2011 Noble JV[Member] [Member] acre	Sep. 30, 2011 Noble JV[Member] [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Hess [Member] Rate acre
Joint Venture Interest Percentage						50.00%		50.00%
Drilling commitment carry							$ 2,100,000,000	$ 534,000,000
Three Month Average Price Carry for carry not to be suspended							4.00
Joint Venture Percent of Carry in Drilling Obligations								0.50
Significant Acquisitions and Disposals, Gain (Loss) on Sale or Disposal, Net of Tax						64,142,000		53,095,000
Acres in Joint Venture primarily focused on								73,000,000
Acres in Joint Venture to be sold								63,000,000
Maximum Annual Drilling Commitment Carry							400,000,000
Acres w/ Asserted Title Defects					75,000,000			39,000,000
Gas and Oil Acreage, Unproved, Net						628,000		200,000
Cash Proceeds Related to Joint Venture Activity						485,464,000		54,254,000
Joint Venture Transaction Fees						34,998,000		5,719,000
Note Receivable 1 year - joint venture proceed						311,754,000
Note receivable 2 year - joint venture proceeds						296,344,000
Cash Proceeds Related to 1 year Note						327,964,000
Oil and Gas Joint Interest Billing Receivables						16,703,000
Payable Related to Joint Venture Activity						980,000
Cash Proceeds Related to Receivable						15,598,000
Carry Value of Acres w/ Asserted Title Defects					481,000,000			153,000,000
Total Value of Asserted Title Defects		57,000,000
Tentative Acres w/ Asserted Title Defects								26,000,000
Acres to be reassigned by Joint Venture								65,000,000
drill carry remaining			2,034,785,000	279,248,000				335,000,000
Transaction Value of Asserted Title Defects	$ 2,470,000	$ 8,780,000