Basis of Presentation (Policies)	9 Months Ended
Basis of Presentation (Policies)	Sep. 30, 2016
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Basis of Accounting	The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2015 have been derived from and should be read in conjunction with the audited financial statements and notes thereto contained in the Company’s 2015 Form 10-K. The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements were also prepared in accordance with the accounting policies stated in the audited consolidated financial statements contained in the 2015 Form 10-K. The Company’s independent registered public accounting firm issued its audit opinion dated March 30, 2016, on such financial statements with a going concern uncertainty explanatory paragraph. Certain information and disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) have been condensed or omitted, although the Company believes that the disclosures contained herein are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. In the opinion of management, the accompanying financial statements include all adjustments, which consist of normal recurring adjustments unless otherwise disclosed, necessary to state fairly the information in the Company’s accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements. The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming the Company will continue as a going concern. Given certain risks related to the Chapter 11 proceedings, management concluded that there was substantial doubt regarding the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern as it was structured at September 30, 2016. The Company has applied Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 852 “Reorganizations” in preparing the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements. ASC 852 requires that the financial statements, for periods subsequent to the Chapter 11 filings, distinguish transactions and events that are directly associated with the reorganization from the ongoing operations of the business. Accordingly, certain revenues, expenses, realized gains and losses and provisions for losses that are realized or incurred during the bankruptcy proceedings, including losses related to executory contracts that have been approved for rejection by the Bankruptcy Court, and unamortized deferred financing costs, premiums, discounts and derivatives associated with debt classified as liabilities subject to compromise, are recorded as reorganization items. In addition, pre-petition obligations that may be impacted by the Chapter 11 process have been classified on the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet at September 30, 2016 as liabilities subject to compromise. These liabilities are reported at the amounts the Company anticipates will be allowed by the Bankruptcy Court, even if they may be settled for lesser amounts. See Note 1 for more information regarding reorganization items
Principles of Consolidation	Principles of Consolidation. The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly owned or majority owned subsidiaries. During the nine-month period ended September 30, 2015, the Company fully consolidated the activities of the Royalty Trusts as variable interest entities (“VIEs”) for which the Company was the primary beneficiary. Activities of the Royalty Trusts attributable to third party ownership were presented as noncontrolling interest and included as a component of equity in the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2015. As discussed further below, during the nine-month period ended September 30, 2016, the Company proportionately consolidated the activities of the Royalty Trusts. All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Reclassifications	Reclassifications. Certain reclassifications have been made to the prior period financial statements to conform to the current period presentation. These reclassifications have no effect on the Company’s previously reported results of operations.
Use of Estimates	Use of Estimates. The preparation of the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The more significant areas requiring the use of assumptions, judgments and estimates include: oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (“NGL”) reserves; impairment tests of long-lived assets; depreciation, depletion and amortization; asset retirement obligations; determinations of significant alterations to the full cost pool and related estimates of fair value used to allocate the full cost pool net book value to divested properties, as necessary; income taxes; valuation of derivative instruments; contingencies; accrued revenue and related receivables; and estimation of liabilities subject to compromise. Although management believes these estimates are reasonable, actual results could differ significantly.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements	Recent Accounting Pronouncements. In February 2015, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2015-02, “Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis,” which makes changes to both the variable interest model and the voting model, affecting all reporting entities involved with limited partnerships or similar entities, particularly industries such as the oil and gas, transportation and real estate sectors. The guidance simplifies and improves current guidance by placing more emphasis on risk of loss when determining a controlling financial interest and reducing the frequency of the application of related-party guidance when determining a controlling financial interest in a VIE. The requirements of the guidance were effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015, including interim periods within that reporting period, with early adoption permitted. The Company adopted this guidance on January 1, 2016, which resulted in the determination that the Royalty Trusts no longer qualify as VIEs. As a result, for the three and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2016, the Company proportionately consolidated the activities of the Royalty Trusts. Under the proportionate consolidation method, the Company accounts for only its share of each Royalty Trust’s asset, liabilities, revenues and expenses within the appropriate classifications in the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements. The Company adopted the provisions of ASU 2015-02 on a modified retrospective approach by recording a cumulative-effect adjustment as of January 1, 2016 that resulted in decreases of approximately $243.4 million to total assets and approximately $510.2 million to noncontrolling interest and increases of approximately $9.7 million to accounts payable and approximately $257.1 million to retained earnings. In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-03, "Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs," which requires debt issuance costs to be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the associated debt liability, consistent with the presentation of a debt discount. The guidance is effective on a retrospective basis for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2015, including interim periods within that reporting period, with early adoption permitted. The guidance was adopted on January 1, 2016, and resulted in a decrease of approximately $69.1 million to other assets and current maturities of long-term debt in the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet for the year ended December 31, 2015, with no impact to the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations. See Note 1 for treatment and classification of unamortized debt issuance costs subsequent to filing the Chapter 11 petitions. In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-15, “Presentation and Subsequent Measurement of Debt Issuance Costs Associated with Line-of-Credit Arrangements,” which excludes line-of-credit debt issuance costs from the scope of ASU 2015-03. The guidance was adopted on January 1, 2016 in conjunction with the adoption of ASU 2015-03 by making an accounting policy election to present line-of-credit arrangement debt issuance costs as an asset and subsequently amortize the deferred debt issuance costs ratably over the term of the line-of-credit arrangement, regardless of whether there are any outstanding borrowings on the line-of-credit. The adoption of this policy resulted in no impact to the consolidated financial statements. Recent Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted. In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers,” which outlines a single comprehensive model for entities to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers and supersedes most current revenue recognition guidance, including industry-specific guidance. The core principle requires that an entity recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. Certain of the provisions also amend or supersede existing guidance applicable to the recognition of a gain or loss on transfers of nonfinancial assets that are not an output of an entity’s ordinary activities, including sales of property, plant and equipment and real estate. In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-14, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606): Deferral of the Effective Date," which defers the effective date of ASU 2014-09 to annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, and interim periods within that reporting period. Early adoption is permitted, and either a full retrospective or modified approach may be used for adoption. The Company is currently evaluating the effect, if any, that the updated standard will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. In August 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-15, “Disclosure of Uncertainties about an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,” which provides guidance on determining when and how to disclose going-concern uncertainties in the financial statements. The new standard requires management to perform interim and annual assessments of an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year of the date the financial statements are issued. An entity must provide certain disclosures if “conditions or events raise substantial doubt about the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern.” The guidance is effective for annual periods ending after December 15, 2016, and interim periods thereafter, with early adoption permitted. The Company evaluated the effect of the guidance and has determined that it will have no impact on its related disclosures. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, “Leases (Topic 842),” which requires companies to recognize the assets and liabilities for the rights and obligations created by long-term leases of assets on the balance sheet. The guidance requires adoption by application of a modified retrospective transition approach for existing long-term leases and is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, including interim periods within those years. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that the guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-06, “Contingent Put and Call Options in Debt Instruments” which clarifies the requirements for assessing whether contingent call (put) options that can accelerate the payment of principal on debt instruments are clearly and closely related to their debt hosts, which is one of the criteria for bifurcating an embedded derivative. The amendments eliminate diversity in practice in assessing embedded contingent call (put) options in debt instruments. The guidance requires adoption by application of a modified retrospective approach to existing and future debt instruments effective for fiscal years after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within those years. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that the guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, “Improvements to Share-Based Payment Accounting” which was part of the FASB simplification initiative and involves several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment transactions, including the income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, and classification on the statement of cash flows. The guidance requires adoption by various application methods. All amendments must be adopted in the same period. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within those years. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that the guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. In September 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, “Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments” which addresses eight specific cash flow issues with the objective of reducing the existing diversity in practice including, but not limited to; debt prepayment, settlement of zero-coupon debt instruments, contingent consideration payments made after a business combination, proceeds from settlement of insurance claims, and separately identifiable cash flows and application of the predominance principle. The guidance requires adoption by application of a retrospective method to each period presented. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, including interim periods within those years. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the effect that the guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.
Fair Value Transfer	The Company recognizes transfers between fair value hierarchy levels as of the end of the reporting period in which the event or change in circumstances causing the transfer occurred.