Impairments and Other Charges (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) item	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) item VEF / $	Sep. 30, 2015 VEF / $
Tangible Assets And Equipment
Provision for retirement of assets			$ 69,072	$ 65,633
Impairment of long-lived assets		$ 6,895	216,355	74,464
Subtotal		6,895	285,427	140,097
Other Charges:
Other-than-temporary impairment			219,737	180,591
Provision for international operations				48,279
Transaction related costs		21,628
Loss (gain) on early extinguishment of debt		16,013	(6,665)
Total impairments and other charges		44,536	498,499	368,967
Payment of principal and accrued and unpaid interest of senior notes		381,814	493,612	27,478
Loss (gain) on early extinguishment of debt		(16,013)	$ 6,665
Number of remaining SCR rigs retired | item			24
Number of older rigs retired | item			7
Charge for remeasurement of net monetary assets				$ 10,000
Official exchange rate of Bolivares per USD | VEF / $				6.3
SIMADI exchange rate of Bolivares per USD | VEF / $					199
Write-off of receivable				$ 15,400
Provision for exit of non-core business line				22,900
C&J Energy Services, Ltd.
Other Charges:
Other-than-temporary impairment	$ 153,400		$ 192,400	180,600
Total impairments and other charges			216,200
Affiliate Receivable			23,800
Venezuela
Other Charges:
Provision for assets and receivable impacted by degradation of overall country economy				25,400
North Slope of Alaska
Tangible Assets And Equipment
Provision for retirement of assets			22,400	15,100
United States
Tangible Assets And Equipment
Provision for retirement of assets			25,365	$ 47,247
Impairment of long-lived assets			163,182
Number of Competitive Assets | item				47
Subtotal			188,547	$ 47,247
Canada
Tangible Assets And Equipment
Provision for retirement of assets			19,573	7,547
Impairment of long-lived assets			1,125
Subtotal			20,698	7,547
International
Tangible Assets And Equipment
Provision for retirement of assets			23,275	10,839
Impairment of long-lived assets			12,721	52,479
Subtotal			35,996	63,318
Drilling Solutions
Tangible Assets And Equipment
Provision for retirement of assets			859
Subtotal			859
Rig Technologies
Tangible Assets And Equipment
Impairment of long-lived assets			15,343	3,879
Subtotal			15,343	3,879
Other
Tangible Assets And Equipment
Impairment of long-lived assets			23,984	18,106
Subtotal			23,984	18,106
Senior Notes.
Other Charges:
Loss (gain) on early extinguishment of debt		16,000
Principal amount repurchased		367,900	152,700	27,500
Payment of principal and accrued and unpaid interest of senior notes		381,700	$ 157,500	$ 27,500
Loss (gain) on early extinguishment of debt		$ (16,000)