SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION ON OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION, DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES (UNAUDITED) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012 bbl	Sep. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012	Mar. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011 bbl	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2012 bbl	Dec. 31, 2011 Boe bbl	Dec. 31, 2010 Boe	Dec. 02, 2010	Nov. 05, 2009
Results of Operations for Oil and Gas Producing Activities, by Geographic Area [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 23,740	$ 30,752	$ 36,347	$ 320,510	$ 359,109	$ 319,261	$ 353,505	$ 124,303	$ 411,349	$ 1,156,178
Production Cost									195,381	854,319
Capitalized Costs Relating to Oil and Gas Producing Activities, by Geographic Area [Line Items]
Unproved properties not being amortized	5,809,297				22,890,944				5,809,297	22,890,944
Proved properties being amortized	47,093,419								47,093,419
Accumulated depreciation, depletion, amortization and impairment	(47,043,262)								(47,043,262)
Net capitalized costs	5,859,454								5,859,454
Property acquisition costs [Abstract]
Period of average prices used in calculating proved oil and gas reserves									12 months
Period of average prices used in calculating future cash inflows related to standardized measure of discounted future net cash flows									12 months
Minimum experience of Vice President of independent professional engineering firm									30 years
Total proved reserves [Abstract]
Proved developed reserves					94,619,000,000					94,619,000,000
Total proved undeveloped reserve	0				0				0	0
Percentage ownership interest in La Cuerva and LLA 62 blocks in Colombia (in hundredths)	1.60%								1.60%			37.50%	25.00%
Revision in proved undeveloped reserves due to on going drilling program and subsequent changes in subsurface mapping										11,805	0
Discount rate of estimated future cash flows (in hundredths)									10.00%
Standardized measure of discounted future net cash flows [Abstract]
Future cash inflows from sales of oil and gas									921,070	10,070,465
Future production cost									(392,430)	(4,536,124)
Future development cost									0	(673,433)
Future income tax									0	(835,327)
Future net cash flows									528,640	4,025,581
10% annual discount for timing of cash flow									(230,570)	(972,542)
Standardized measure of discounted future net cash flow relating to proved oil and gas reserves									298,070	3,053,039
Changes in standardized measure [Roll Forward]
Change due to current year operations Sales, net of production costs									(215,968)	(301,834)
Change due to revisions in standardized variables [Abstract]
Income taxes									(12,911)	(835,327)
Accretion of discount									49,238	205,801
Net change in sales and transfer price, net of production costs									(62,724)	355,764
Previously estimated development costs incurred during the period									0	641,375
Changes in estimated future development costs									0	(494,665)
Revision and others									35,781	(5,222)
Discoveries									0	1,594,813
Sales of reserves in place									(2,505,431)	0
Changes in production rates and other									(42,954)	335,454
Net									(2,754,969)	1,496,159
Beginning of year				3,053,039				1,556,880	3,053,039	1,556,880
End of year	298,070				3,053,039				298,070	3,053,039	1,556,880
Gas [Member]
Total proved reserves [Abstract]
Balance at beginning of the period				86,800				82,220	86,800	82,220
Extensions and discoveries										0
Purchase of minerals in place										0
Revisions of prior estimates									10,546	15,418
Sales of minerals in place									0
Production									(12,066)	(10,838)
Balance at end of the period	85,280				86,800				85,280	86,800
Proved developed reserves	85,280				86,800				85,280	86,800
Proved undeveloped reserves	0				0				0	0
Oil [Member]
Total proved reserves [Abstract]
Balance at beginning of the period				101,159,000,000				67,160,000,000	101,159,000,000	67,160,000,000
Extensions and discoveries										45,889,000,000
Purchase of minerals in place										0
Revisions of prior estimates									915,000,000	(874,000,000)
Sales of minerals in place									(93,117,000,000)
Production									(2,787,000,000)	(11,016,000,000)
Balance at end of the period	6,170,000,000				101,159,000,000				6,170,000,000	101,159,000,000
Proved developed reserves	6,170,000,000				37,385,000,000				6,170,000,000	37,385,000,000
Proved undeveloped reserves	0				63,774,000,000				0	63,774,000,000
North America [Member]
Results of Operations for Oil and Gas Producing Activities, by Geographic Area [Line Items]
Revenues									148,163	148,266
Production Cost									76,593	59,072
Capitalized Costs Relating to Oil and Gas Producing Activities, by Geographic Area [Line Items]
Unproved properties not being amortized	972,885				862,049				972,885	862,049
United States [Member]
Capitalized Costs Relating to Oil and Gas Producing Activities, by Geographic Area [Line Items]
Unproved properties not being amortized	972,885								972,885
Proved properties being amortized	857,845								857,845
Accumulated depreciation, depletion, amortization and impairment	(807,688)								(807,688)
Net capitalized costs	1,023,042								1,023,042
Amortization Expense Per Equivalent Unit of Production or Per Dollar of Gross Revenue [Line Items]
Amortization rate per unit (in dollars per share)	$ 1.88								$ 1.88
Property acquisition costs [Abstract]
Proved									0	0
Unproved									110,836	250,702
Exploration costs									0	0
Development costs									6,488	0
Total costs incurred									117,324	250,702
Standardized measure of discounted future net cash flows [Abstract]
Future cash inflows from sales of oil and gas									921,070	1,074,280
Future production cost									(392,430)	(333,520)
Future development cost									0	(48,320)
Future income tax									0	(13,790)
Future net cash flows									528,640	678,650
10% annual discount for timing of cash flow									(230,570)	(275,440)
Standardized measure of discounted future net cash flow relating to proved oil and gas reserves									298,070	403,210
Changes in standardized measure [Roll Forward]
Change due to current year operations Sales, net of production costs									(71,570)	(89,168)
Change due to revisions in standardized variables [Abstract]
Income taxes									(12,911)	(13,790)
Accretion of discount									49,238	43,962
Net change in sales and transfer price, net of production costs									(62,724)	26,770
Previously estimated development costs incurred during the period									0	0
Changes in estimated future development costs									0	0
Revision and others									35,781	86,695
Discoveries									0	0
Sales of reserves in place									0	0
Changes in production rates and other									(42,954)	(90,878)
United States [Member] | Gas [Member]
Total proved reserves [Abstract]
Balance at beginning of the period				86,800				82,220	86,800	82,220
Extensions and discoveries										0
Purchase of minerals in place										0
Revisions of prior estimates									10,546	15,418
Sales of minerals in place									0
Production									(12,066)	(10,838)
Balance at end of the period	85,280				86,800				85,280	86,800
Proved developed reserves	85,280				86,800				85,280	86,800
Proved undeveloped reserves	0				0				0	0
United States [Member] | Oil [Member]
Total proved reserves [Abstract]
Balance at beginning of the period				6,540,000,000				6,010,000,000	6,540,000,000	6,010,000,000
Extensions and discoveries										0
Purchase of minerals in place										0
Revisions of prior estimates									662,000,000	1,622,000,000
Sales of minerals in place									0
Production									(1,032,000,000)	(1,092,000,000)
Balance at end of the period	6,170,000,000				6,540,000,000				6,170,000,000	6,540,000,000
Proved developed reserves	6,170,000,000				6,540,000,000				6,170,000,000	6,540,000,000
Proved undeveloped reserves	0				0				0	0
South America [Member]
Results of Operations for Oil and Gas Producing Activities, by Geographic Area [Line Items]
Revenues									263,186	1,007,912
Production Cost									118,788	795,247
Capitalized Costs Relating to Oil and Gas Producing Activities, by Geographic Area [Line Items]
Unproved properties not being amortized	4,836,412				22,028,895				4,836,412	22,028,895
Proved properties being amortized	46,235,574								46,235,574
Accumulated depreciation, depletion, amortization and impairment	(46,235,574)								(46,235,574)
Net capitalized costs	4,836,412								4,836,412
Amortization Expense Per Equivalent Unit of Production or Per Dollar of Gross Revenue [Line Items]
Amortization rate per unit (in dollars per share)	$ 9.52								$ 9.52
Property acquisition costs [Abstract]
Proved									0	0
Unproved										2,279,230
Exploration costs									25,915,741	10,109,551
Development costs										641,375
Total costs incurred									25,915,741	13,030,156
Standardized measure of discounted future net cash flows [Abstract]
Future cash inflows from sales of oil and gas									0	8,996,185
Future production cost									0	(4,202,604)
Future development cost									0	(625,113)
Future income tax									0	(821,537)
Future net cash flows										3,346,931
10% annual discount for timing of cash flow									0	(697,102)
Standardized measure of discounted future net cash flow relating to proved oil and gas reserves									0	2,649,829
Changes in standardized measure [Roll Forward]
Change due to current year operations Sales, net of production costs									(144,398)	(212,666)
Change due to revisions in standardized variables [Abstract]
Income taxes									0	(821,537)
Accretion of discount									0	161,839
Net change in sales and transfer price, net of production costs									0	328,994
Previously estimated development costs incurred during the period									0	641,375
Changes in estimated future development costs									0	(494,665)
Revision and others									0	(91,917)
Discoveries									0	1,594,813
Sales of reserves in place									(2,505,431)	0
Changes in production rates and other									$ 0	$ 426,332
South America [Member] | Gas [Member]
Total proved reserves [Abstract]
Balance at beginning of the period				0				0	0	0
Extensions and discoveries										0
Purchase of minerals in place										0
Revisions of prior estimates									0
Sales of minerals in place									0
Production									0	0
Balance at end of the period	0				0				0	0
Proved developed reserves	0				0				0	0
Proved undeveloped reserves	0				0				0	0
South America [Member] | Oil [Member]
Total proved reserves [Abstract]
Balance at beginning of the period				94,619,000,000				61,150,000,000	94,619,000,000	61,150,000,000
Extensions and discoveries										45,889,000,000
Purchase of minerals in place										0
Revisions of prior estimates									253,000,000	(2,496,000,000)
Sales of minerals in place									(93,117,000,000)
Production									(1,755,000,000)	(9,924,000,000)
Balance at end of the period	0				94,619,000,000				0	94,619,000,000
Proved developed reserves	0				30,845,000,000				0	30,845,000,000
Proved undeveloped reserves	0				63,774,000,000				0	63,774,000,000