| **PROPERTIES AND EQUIPMENT Properties and Equipment Acreage exchange (Details) $ in Millions** | 3 Months Ended |        |        |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------|--------|--------|
||
| **Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]**                                                 |           |   |   |
| Proceeds from Sale of Property Held-for-sale | $                                               | $ 40.0         |   |   |
| Third Party 2 acreage to PDC [Member]                                                          |           |   |   |
| **Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]**                                                 |           |   |   |
| Gas and Oil Area, Developed, Gross                                                             |           | 15,900 |   |
| PDC acreage to Third Party 2 [Member]                                                          |           |   |   |
| **Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]**                                                 |           |   |   |
| Gas and Oil Area, Developed, Gross                                                             |           | 16,200 |   |
| PDC acres transferred to Noble [Member] [Member]                                               |           |   |   |
| **Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]**                                                 |           |   |   |
| Gas and Oil Area, Developed, Gross                                                             |           |   | 13,500 |
| PDC acres transferred to Noble [Member]                                                        |           |   |   |
| **Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]**                                                 |           |   |   |
| Gas and Oil Area, Developed, Gross                                                             |           |   | 11,700 |

| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Area spaced or assigned to productive wells in which a working interest is owned.
+ References
Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-K (SK) -Number 229 -Section 1208 -Paragraph (a)
+ Details**Name:**us-gaap_GasAndOilAreaDevelopedGross**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**num:areaItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
The cash inflow from the sale of formerly productive land held for sale, anything permanently fixed to it, including buildings, structures on it, and so forth.
+ References
Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 230 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 12 -Subparagraph (c) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=98514028&loc=d3e3179-108585
+ Details**Name:**us-gaap_ProceedsFromSaleOfPropertyHeldForSale**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**xbrli:monetaryItemType**Balance Type:**debit**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_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentLineItems**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**xbrli:stringItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                      |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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| X                                                                                                                                                                      |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=pdce_PDCacreagetoThirdParty2Member**Namespace Prefix:****Data Type:**na**Balance Type:****Period Type:** |
| X                                                                                                                                                                      |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**us-gaap_PropertyPlantAndEquipmentByTypeAxis=pdce_ThirdParty1acreagetoPDCMember**Namespace Prefix:****Data Type:**na**Balance Type:****Period Type:** |
| X                                                                                                                                                                         |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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