| **Commitments and Contingencies Additional information (Details) $ in Thousands** | 3 Months Ended | 9 Months Ended |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------|----------------|
||
| **Loss Contingencies [Line Items]**                                               |           |           |   |   |
| Results of Operations, Transportation Costs                                       | $ 9,234        | $ 9,794        | $ 25,511 | $ 22,184 |
| First facilities agreement with midstream provider [Member]                       |           |           |   |   |
| **Loss Contingencies [Line Items]**                                               |           |           |   |   |
| incremental volume commitment | MMcf                                              |           |           | 51.5 |   |
| Delaware Basin/Wattenberg Field [Member]                                          |           |           |   |   |
| **Loss Contingencies [Line Items]**                                               |           |           |   |   |
| Results of Operations, Transportation Costs                                       | 11,000         |           | $ 16,200 |   |
| Utica Shale natural gas and Wattenberg Field crude oil [Member]                   |           |           |   |   |
| **Loss Contingencies [Line Items]**                                               |           |           |   |   |
| Results of Operations, Transportation Costs                                       | $ 800          | $ 2,600        |   | $ 7,400 |

| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Incremental volume commitment per day, for seven years to our midstream provider.
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**pdce_Incrementalvolumecommitment**Namespace Prefix:**pdce_**Data Type:**num:volumeItemType**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_LossContingenciesLineItems**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**xbrli:stringItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Includes the cost to prepare and move liquid hydrocarbons and natural gas to their points of sale.
+ References
Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 932 -SubTopic 235 -Section 50 -Paragraph 23 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=68064819&loc=d3e62136-109447
+ Details**Name:**us-gaap_ResultsOfOperationsTransportationCosts**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**xbrli:monetaryItemType**Balance Type:**debit**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**us-gaap_OilAndGasDeliveryCommitmentsAndContractsAxis=pdce_FirstfacilitiesagreementwithmidstreamproviderMember**Namespace Prefix:****Data Type:**na**Balance Type:****Period Type:** |
| X                                                                                                                                                             |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**srt_StatementGeographicalAxis=pdce_DelawareBasinWattenbergFieldMember**Namespace Prefix:****Data Type:**na**Balance Type:****Period Type:** |
| X                                                                                                                                                                               |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**srt_StatementGeographicalAxis=pdce_UticaShalenaturalgasandWattenbergFieldcrudeoilMember**Namespace Prefix:****Data Type:**na**Balance Type:****Period Type:** |