Commitments and Contingencies (Details 2) (Petrello, USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013 item
Employment contracts
Initial term of the employment agreement	5 years
Automatic extension period	1 year
New term of the employment agreement	90 days
Employment benefit due to death or disability, payment period	30 days
Employment agreement termination without cause, benefit as a ratio to 3 year average base salary and bonus	2.99
Employment agreement termination without cause, benefit base period	3 years
Salary		$ 1.7
Cash bonus		1.5
Employment agreement quarterly deferred bonus		0.3
Employment agreement amount of group life insurance multiplier of base salary		3
Insurance policy amount		$ 5
TSR Shares
Employment contracts
Vesting period	3 years
Value of award that will vest as percentage of base salary	150.00%
Performance Shares
Employment contracts
Vesting period	3 years
Value of award that will vest as percentage of base salary	200.00%

Represents the amount of group life insurance payable, as multiplier of base salary, under the employment agreement.

No definition available.

Name:	nbr_EmploymentAgreementAmountOfGroupLifeInsuranceMultiplierOfBaseSalary
Namespace Prefix:	nbr_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the amount of cash bonus required to be paid under the employment agreement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nbr_EmploymentAgreementCashBonus
Namespace Prefix:	nbr_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The period of time for which the employment agreement automatically extends.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nbr_EmploymentAgreementExtensionPeriod
Namespace Prefix:	nbr_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the period of time preceding termination without cause used as a basis for calculating a benefit under an employment agreement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nbr_EmploymentAgreementFormulaBenefitBasePeriod
Namespace Prefix:	nbr_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the ratio of the employment benefit to the average of base salary and annual bonuses during the three year period preceding termination prior to the date specified in the contract.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nbr_EmploymentAgreementFormulaBenefitRatioToBaseSalaryBeforeDateSpecifiedInContract
Namespace Prefix:	nbr_
Data Type:	xbrli:pureItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the initial term of the employment agreement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nbr_EmploymentAgreementInitialTerm
Namespace Prefix:	nbr_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the insurance policy amount covered under the employment agreement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nbr_EmploymentAgreementInsurancePolicyAmount
Namespace Prefix:	nbr_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the new term of the employment agreement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nbr_EmploymentAgreementNewTerm
Namespace Prefix:	nbr_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The period of time within which the reporting entity must make payment to a beneficiary under an employment agreement if the termination is due to death or disability.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nbr_EmploymentAgreementPaymentTermTriggeredDueToDeathOrDisability
Namespace Prefix:	nbr_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the quarterly deferred bonus payable under the employment agreement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nbr_EmploymentAgreementQuarterlyDeferredBonus
Namespace Prefix:	nbr_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the amount of salary required to pay under the employment agreement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nbr_EmploymentAgreementSalary
Namespace Prefix:	nbr_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the value of award that will vest under share-based payment arrangement as a percentage of the base salary.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	nbr_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardValueOfAwardThatWillVestAsPercentageOfBaseSalary
Namespace Prefix:	nbr_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DeferredCompensationArrangementWithIndividualExcludingShareBasedPaymentsAndPostretirementBenefitsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Period which an employee's right to exercise an award is no longer contingent on satisfaction of either a service condition, market condition or a performance condition, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 718

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 2

-Subparagraph (a)(1)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6415400&loc=d3e5070-113901

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardAwardVestingPeriod1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration