| **COMMON STOCK Treasury Shares (Details) - shares**                                | 12 Months Ended |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------|
||
| **Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]** |            |   |
| Treasury stock acquired, and available for reissuance                              |            | 9,009 |
| Common Stock, Shares Held in Employee Trust, Shares                                | 18,366          | 11,211 |
| Treasury Stock [Member]                                                            |            |   |
| **Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]** |            |   |
| Treasury Stock, Shares, Acquired                                                   | 116,085         |   |
| Treasury stock acquired and reissued                                               | 114,697         |   |
| Treasury stock acquired, and available for reissuance                              | 10,397          |   |

| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Treasury stock acquired, and available for reissuance pursuant to the 2010 plan
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**pdce_TreasuryStockAcquiredAndAvailableForReissuance**Namespace Prefix:**pdce_**Data Type:**xbrli:sharesItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Treasury stock acquired and reissued pursuant to the 2010 long-term plan
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**pdce_TreasuryStockAcquiredAndReissued**Namespace Prefix:**pdce_**Data Type:**xbrli:sharesItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Number of common stock held in a trust that has been set up specifically to accumulate stock for the sole purpose of distribution to participating employees but not yet earned.
+ References
Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 718 -SubTopic 40 -Section 25 -Paragraph 12 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65888597&loc=d3e16701-113920
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| 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_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardLineItems**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**xbrli:stringItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Number of shares that have been repurchased during the period and are being held in treasury.
+ References
Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 505 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.3-04) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=27012166&loc=d3e187085-122770Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02(29)) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 505 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6928386&loc=d3e21463-112644
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| X                                                                                                                                         |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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