Condensed Consolidating Financial Information - Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows of SandRidge Energy, Inc. and Wholly Owned Subsidiary Guarantors and Non-Guarantors' (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by operating activities	$ 621,114	$ 868,630	$ 783,160
Cash flows from investing activities
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	(1,553,332)	(1,496,731)	(2,146,372)
Acquisitions, net of cash received	(18,384)	(17,028)	(840,740)
Proceeds from sale of assets	714,475	2,584,115	431,167
Other	(18,384)	(17,028)	0
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(857,241)	1,070,356	(2,555,945)
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from borrowings	0	0	1,850,344
Repayments of borrowings	0us-gaap_RepaymentsOfLongTermDebt	(1,115,500)us-gaap_RepaymentsOfLongTermDebt	(366,029)us-gaap_RepaymentsOfLongTermDebt
Premium on debt redemption	0	(61,997)	(844)
Proceeds from issuance of royalty trust units	0us-gaap_ProceedsFromOtherEquity	0us-gaap_ProceedsFromOtherEquity	587,086us-gaap_ProceedsFromOtherEquity
Proceeds from the sale of royalty trust units	22,119sd_ProceedsFromSaleOfRoyaltyTrustUnits	28,985sd_ProceedsFromSaleOfRoyaltyTrustUnits	139,360sd_ProceedsFromSaleOfRoyaltyTrustUnits
Distributions to unitholders	(193,807)sd_CashDistributionToOwners	(206,470)sd_CashDistributionToOwners	(181,727)sd_CashDistributionToOwners
Repurchase of common stock	(111,827)	0	0
Dividends paid—preferred	(55,525)	(55,525)	(55,525)
Intercompany (advances) borrowings, net	0sd_Intercompanyborrowingsadvances	0sd_Intercompanyborrowingsadvances	0sd_Intercompanyborrowingsadvances
Other	(91,649)	5,403	(98,639)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(397,283)	(1,434,089)	1,874,870
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	(633,410)	504,897	102,085
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, beginning of year	814,663	309,766	207,681
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, end of year	181,253	814,663	309,766
Parent
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by operating activities	141,751	(239,026)	285,567
Cash flows from investing activities
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	0	0	0
Acquisitions, net of cash received			(693,091)
Proceeds from sale of assets	0	0	129,830
Other	0	0	(61,343)
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	0	0	(624,604)
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from borrowings			1,850,344
Repayments of borrowings		(1,115,500)	(350,000)
Premium on debt redemption		(61,997)
Proceeds from issuance of royalty trust units			0
Proceeds from the sale of royalty trust units			0
Distributions to unitholders	0	0	0
Repurchase of common stock	(111,827)
Dividends paid—preferred		(55,525)	(55,525)
Intercompany (advances) borrowings, net	(598,051)	2,009,146	(945,448)
Other	(66,910)	(31,821)	(64,121)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(776,788)	744,303	435,250
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	(635,037)	505,277	96,213
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, beginning of year	805,505	300,228	204,015
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, end of year	170,468	805,505	300,228
Guarantors
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by operating activities	258,498	852,026	264,717
Cash flows from investing activities
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	(1,553,332)	(1,496,731)	(2,112,547)
Acquisitions, net of cash received			(147,649)
Proceeds from sale of assets	711,728	2,566,742	942,675
Other	(165,551)	89,606	278,708
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	(1,007,155)	1,159,617	(1,038,813)
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from borrowings			0
Repayments of borrowings		0	0
Premium on debt redemption		0
Proceeds from issuance of royalty trust units			0
Proceeds from the sale of royalty trust units			0
Distributions to unitholders	0	0	0
Repurchase of common stock	0
Dividends paid—preferred		0	0
Intercompany (advances) borrowings, net	598,056	(2,018,212)	809,099
Other	150,986	6,660	(34,518)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	749,042	(2,011,552)	774,581
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	385	91	485
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, beginning of year	1,013	922	437
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, end of year	1,398	1,013	922
Non-Guarantors
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by operating activities	212,427	254,723	162,281
Cash flows from investing activities
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	0	0	(33,825)
Acquisitions, net of cash received			(587,086)
Proceeds from sale of assets	2,747	17,373	1,333
Other	1,140	3,197	0
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	3,887	20,570	(619,578)
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from borrowings			0
Repayments of borrowings		0	(16,029)
Premium on debt redemption		0
Proceeds from issuance of royalty trust units			587,086
Proceeds from the sale of royalty trust units			0
Distributions to unitholders	(234,327)	(299,675)	(274,980)
Repurchase of common stock	0
Dividends paid—preferred		0	0
Intercompany (advances) borrowings, net	(5)	9,066	136,349
Other	19,260	14,845	30,258
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(215,072)	(275,764)	462,684
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	1,242	(471)	5,387
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, beginning of year	8,145	8,616	3,229
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, end of year	9,387	8,145	8,616
Eliminations
Condensed Financial Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Net cash provided by operating activities	8,438	907	70,595
Cash flows from investing activities
Capital expenditures for property, plant and equipment	0	0	0
Acquisitions, net of cash received			587,086
Proceeds from sale of assets	0	0	(642,671)
Other	146,027	(109,831)	(217,365)
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	146,027	(109,831)	(272,950)
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from borrowings			0
Repayments of borrowings		0	0
Premium on debt redemption		0
Proceeds from issuance of royalty trust units			0
Proceeds from the sale of royalty trust units			139,360
Distributions to unitholders	40,520	93,205	93,253
Repurchase of common stock	0
Dividends paid—preferred		0	0
Intercompany (advances) borrowings, net	0	0	0
Other	(194,985)	15,719	(30,258)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(154,465)	108,924	202,355
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, beginning of year	0	0	0
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, end of year	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0

Condensed Consolidating Financial Information - Condensed Consolidating Statements of Cash Flows of SandRidge Energy, Inc. and Wholly Owned Subsidiary Guarantors and Non-Guarantors' (Details) (USD $)
In Thousands, unless otherwise specified