XML 59 R60.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.2.0.727

Fair Values of Financial Instruments - Additional Information (Detail)	6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
4.97% Series A Senior Notes, Due October 5th 2020
Fair Value Balance Sheet Grouping Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Current market rates used in measuring fair value	4.21%	5.77%
4.27% Series B Senior Notes, Due June 14th 2022
Fair Value Balance Sheet Grouping Financial Statement Captions [Line Items]
Current market rates used in measuring fair value	4.58%	6.00%

X

- Definition

Minimum percentage of fair value transactions corroborated using observable market inputs required for level two.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

X

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=pten_SeriesASeniorNotesFourPointNineSevenPercentDueOctoberFiveTwentyTwentyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis=pten_SeriesBSeniorNotesFourPointTwoSevenPercentDueJuneFourteenTwentyTwentyTwoMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: