| **NATURE OF OPERATIONS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION**            | 3 Months Ended                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
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| **NATURE OF OPERATIONS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION [Abstract]** |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| Nature of Operations                                          | NATURE OF OPERATIONS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION PDC Energy, Inc. is a domestic independent exploration and production company that acquires, explores and develops properties for the production of crude oil, natural gas and NGLs, with operations in the Wattenberg Field in Colorado and the Delaware Basin in Texas. Our operations in the Wattenberg Field are focused in the horizontal Niobrara and Codell plays and our Delaware Basin operations are primarily focused in the Wolfcamp zones. As of March 31, 2020, we owned an interest in approximately 3,900 gross productive wells. The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of PDC and our wholly-owned subsidiaries. All material intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. In our opinion, the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements contain all adjustments, consisting of 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 December 31, 2019 condensed consolidated balance sheet data was derived from audited statements, but does not include all disclosures required by U.S. GAAP. 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 2019 Form 10-K. Our results of operations and cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2020 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year or any other future period. |

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NATURE OF OPERATIONS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION [Abstract]
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No definition available.
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The entire disclosure for the nature of an entity's business, major products or services, principal markets including location, and the relative importance of its operations in each business and the basis for the determination, including but not limited to, assets, revenues, or earnings. For an entity that has not commenced principal operations, disclosures about the risks and uncertainties related to the activities in which the entity is currently engaged and an understanding of what those activities are being directed toward.
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