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Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Additional Information (Detail)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Future net cash flow discount rate	10.00%pten_FutureNetCashFlowsDiscountRate

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- Definition

Future net cash flows discount rate.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	pten_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

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- Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
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Period Type:	duration