| **Accounting Policies (Policies)**                                                  | 9 Months Ended                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
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| **Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]** |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| Interest Expense, Policy [Policy Text Block]                                        | The original issue discount and the deferred note issuance costs are being amortized to interest expense over the term of the debt.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| Consolidation, Policy [Policy Text Block]                                           | The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of PDC, our wholly-owned subsidiaries, and our proportionate share of PDCM and our 21 affiliated partnerships. Pursuant to the proportionate consolidation method, our accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include our pro rata share of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses of the entities which we proportionately consolidate. All material intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| Basis of Accounting, Policy [Policy Text Block]                                     | In our opinion, the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements contain all adjustments (consisting of only normal recurring adjustments) necessary for a fair statement of our financial statements for interim periods in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("U.S. GAAP") and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X of the SEC. Accordingly, pursuant to such rules and regulations, certain notes and other financial information included in audited financial statements have been condensed or omitted. The information presented in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our 2011 Form 10-K. Our results of operations and cash flows for the three and nine months ended 2012 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year or any other future period. |
| Reclassification, Policy [Policy Text Block]                                        | Certain reclassifications have been made to prior period financial statements to conform to the current year presentation, mainly related to discontinued operations. See Note 13, Divestitures and Discontinued Operations, for additional information regarding our discontinued operations. We also reclassified impairment and amortization charges recorded for unproved properties out of the statement of operations line item exploration expense and into impairment of natural gas and crude oil properties, and the accretion of asset retirement obligations out of the statement of operations line item production cost and into accretion of asset retirement obligations. The reclassifications had no impact on previously reported cash flows, net income, earnings per share or shareholders' equity.                                                                                                                                                                                        |

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| - Definition
Disclosure of accounting policy for basis of accounting, or basis of presentation, used to prepare the financial statements (for example, US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Other Comprehensive Basis of Accounting, IFRS).
+ References
No definition available.
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| - Definition
Disclosure of accounting policy regarding (1) the principles it follows in consolidating or combining the separate financial statements, including the principles followed in determining the inclusion or exclusion of subsidiaries or other entities in the consolidated or combined financial statements and (2) its treatment of interests (for example, common stock, a partnership interest or other means of exerting influence) in other entities, for example consolidation or use of the equity or cost methods of accounting.  The accounting policy may also address the accounting treatment for intercompany accounts and transactions, noncontrolling interest, and the income statement treatment in consolidation for issuances of stock by a subsidiary.
+ References
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| - Definition
Disclosure of accounting policy for recognizing interest expense, including the method of amortizing debt issuance costs.
+ References
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| - Definition
Disclosure of accounting policy for reclassifications that affects the comparability of the financial statements.
+ References
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