Earnings Per Share (Reconciliation Of Components Used To Compute Basic And Diluted Net Income Per Common Share) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended				6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014		Jun. 30, 2013		Jun. 30, 2014		Jun. 30, 2013
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Net income (loss) attributable to Quicksilver	$ (36,095)		$ 242,523		$ (94,928)		$ 182,818
Undistributed Earnings Allocated to Participating Securities	0	[1]	(7,020)	[1]	0	[1]	(5,126)	[1]
Income (loss) available to shareholders	$ (36,095)		$ 235,503		$ (94,928)		$ 177,692
Weighted Average Number of Shares Outstanding, Basic	173,910,000		171,357,000		173,705,000		171,261,000
Share-based compensation awards	0	[2]	5,000	[2]	0	[2]	4,000	[2]
Weighted Average Number of Shares Outstanding, Diluted	173,910,000		171,362,000		173,705,000		171,265,000
Earnings (loss) per common share - basic	$ (0.21)		$ 1.37		$ (0.55)		$ 1.04
Earnings (loss) per common share - diluted	$ (0.21)	[2]	$ 1.37	[2]	$ (0.55)	[2]	$ 1.04	[2]
Stock Options [Member]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Antidilutive shares excluded from the diluted share calculation	6,600,000		5,300,000		6,600,000		5,200,000
Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) [Member]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Antidilutive shares excluded from the diluted share calculation	300,000		1,000,000		300,000		1,000,000

[1] Restricted share awards that contain nonforfeitable rights to dividends are participating securities and, therefore, should be included in computing earnings using the two-class method. Participating securities, however, do not participate in undistributed net losses because there is no contractual obligation to do so.

[2] For the three months ended June 30, 2014, 6.6 million shares associated with our stock options and 0.3 million shares associated with our unvested RSUs were antidilutive and, therefore, excluded from the diluted share calculations. For the three months ended June 30, 2013, 5.3 million shares associated with our stock options and 1.0 million shares associated with our unvested RSUs were antidilutive and, therefore, excluded from the diluted share calculations. For the six months ended June 30, 2014, 6.6 million shares associated with our stock options and 0.3 million shares associated with our unvested RSUs were antidilutive and, therefore, excluded from the diluted share calculations. For the six months ended June 30, 2013, 5.2 million shares associated with our stock options and 1.0 million shares associated with our unvested RSUs were antidilutive and, therefore, excluded from the diluted share calculations.