XML 53 R43.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.7.0.1

Performance Units (Detail)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2017 shares
2016
Share Based Compensation Arrangement By Share Based Payment Award [Line Items]
Target number of shares	185,000
2015
Share Based Compensation Arrangement By Share Based Payment Award [Line Items]
Target number of shares	190,600
2014
Share Based Compensation Arrangement By Share Based Payment Award [Line Items]
Target number of shares	154,000
2013
Share Based Compensation Arrangement By Share Based Payment Award [Line Items]
Target number of shares	236,500

X

- Definition

Performance award target number of shares.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	pten_PerformanceAwardTargetNumberOfShares
Namespace Prefix:	pten_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
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_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AwardDateAxis=pten_YearTwentySixteenMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AwardDateAxis=pten_YearTwentyFifteenMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AwardDateAxis=pten_YearTwentyFourteenMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AwardDateAxis=pten_YearTwentyThirteenMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: