DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS AND PRICE RISK MANAGEMENT (Details) (USD $)																														3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012 Oil Swap 1 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Oil Swap 2 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Oil Swap 3 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Oil Swap 4 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Oil Swap 5 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Oil Swap 6 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Oil Swap 7 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Oil Swap 8 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Oil Swap 9 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Oil Swap 10 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Oil Swap 11 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Oil Swap 12 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Oil Swap 13 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Oil Swap 14 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Oil Swap 15 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Oil Swap 16 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Oil Swap 17 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Collar 1 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Collar 2 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Collar 3 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Collar 4 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Collar 5 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Collar 6 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Collar 7 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Collar 8 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Collar 9 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Collar 10 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Collar 11 [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Not Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Not Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Not Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Not Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Cash Flow Hedging [Member] Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Cash Flow Hedging [Member] Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member]
Crude Oil Derivative Contracts Cash-flow Hedge [Abstract]
Unrealized loss on price risk cash flow hedges designated as hedges																																		$ 0	$ 101,000
Crude Oil Derivative Contracts Cash-flow Not Designated as Hedges [Abstract]
Realized gain (loss) on price risk derivatives not designated as hedges																														1,701,296	(1,824,719)	(4,729,186)	(10,695,006)
Unrealized gain (loss) on price risk derivatives not designated as hedges																														$ (22,308,470)	$ 27,105,400	$ 18,125,928	$ 26,675,003
Settlement period, lower range		10/01/12	10/01/12	10/01/12	10/01/12	10/01/12	10/01/12	10/01/12	01/01/13	01/01/13	07/01/13	01/01/14	01/01/14	01/01/14	01/01/14	01/01/14	07/01/14	07/01/14	10/01/12	10/01/12	10/01/12	10/01/12	10/01/12	10/01/12	10/01/12	01/01/13	01/01/13	07/01/13	01/01/14
Settlement period, higher range		12/31/12	12/31/14	12/31/12	12/31/12	12/31/12	12/31/12	12/31/12	12/31/13	12/31/13	12/31/13	6/30/14	6/30/14	12/31/14	12/31/14	06/30/14	12/31/14	12/31/14	12/31/12	12/31/12	12/31/12	12/31/13	12/31/13	12/31/13	12/31/13	12/31/13	12/31/13	12/31/13	12/31/14
Oil (in barrels)		60,000	540,000	60,000	30,000	150,000	142,500	60,000	300,000	240,000	60,000	300,000	240,000	240,000	240,000	240,000	120,000	120,000	60,000	33,308	60,000	199,026	188,018	292,580	247,683	480,000	760,794	96,000	240,000
Fixed Price (in dollars per barrel)		90.40	91.65	97.80	104.50	88.00	95.15	100.00	89.50	91.10	102.30	89.50	90.00	90.15	91.00	100.00	90.00	93.50
Weighted Avg NYMEX Reference Price (in dollars per barrel)		92.73	92.61	92.21	92.75	92.73	92.72	92.74	93.61	93.70	93.51	92.03	92.44	91.49	91.49	92.46	90.87	90.90
Total volumes of open contracts	3,142,500
Weighted Average Price on Open Contracts	92.12
Price Minimum (in dollars per barrel)																			$ 90.00	$ 85.00	$ 95.00	$ 90.00	$ 90.00	$ 90.00	$ 95.00	$ 95.00	$ 85.00	$ 95.00	$ 90.00
Price Maximum (in dollars per barrel)																			$ 98.5	$ 95.25	$ 115.10	$ 103.5	$ 106.50	$ 110.00	$ 107.00	$ 110.70	$ 98	$ 106.90	$ 99.05