Leases - Position Costs (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Assets [Abstract]
Right of use assets	$ 40,490	$ 40,490
Operating Lease, Right-of-Use Asset, Statement of Financial Position [Extensible List]	us-gaap:OtherCurrentAssets	us-gaap:OtherCurrentAssets
Lease Assets	$ 40,490	$ 40,490
Liabilities, Current [Abstract]
Operating lease liability, current	$ 13,966	$ 13,966
Operating Lease, Liability, Current, Statement of Financial Position [Extensible List]	nbr:CurrentLeaseLiabilities	nbr:CurrentLeaseLiabilities
Liabilities, Noncurrent [Abstract]
Operating lease liability, noncurrent	$ 26,524	$ 26,524
Operating Lease, Liability, Noncurrent, Statement of Financial Position [Extensible List]	Other Liabilities, Noncurrent	Other Liabilities, Noncurrent
Lease liability	$ 40,490	$ 40,490
Lease, Cost [Abstract]
Operating lease cost	4,056	7,830
Short-term lease cost	657	1,156
Variable lease cost	139	251
Total lease cost	$ 4,852	9,237
Other Information [Abstract]
Operating cash flows for operating leases		$ 7,830
Lease Terms And Discount Rates [Abstract]
Weighted-average remaining lease term - operating leases	5 years 3 months 29 days	5 years 3 months 29 days
Weighted-average discount rate - operating leases	5.59%	5.59%
Undiscounted Cash Flows [Abstract]
2019	$ 8,215	$ 8,215
2020	13,785	13,785
2021	8,452	8,452
2022	5,409	5,409
2023	3,265	3,265
Thereafter	8,004	8,004
Total undiscounted lease liability	47,130	47,130
Less: amount of lease payments representing interest	6,640	6,640
Present value of future minimum lease payments	40,490	40,490
Operating Lease, Liability, Current	13,966	13,966
Operating lease liability, noncurrent	26,524	26,524
Minimum rental commitments under non cancellable operating leases
2019			$ 10,701
2020			7,104
2021			3,774
2022			2,356
2023			1,538
Thereafter			7,482
Total			$ 32,955
Adjustment | Accounting Standards Update 2016-02
Assets [Abstract]
Right of use assets	42,800	42,800
Undiscounted Cash Flows [Abstract]
Present value of future minimum lease payments	$ 42,800	$ 42,800