Leases - Position Costs (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Assets [Abstract]
Right of use assets	$ 37,457	$ 37,457
Operating Lease, Right-of-Use Asset, Statement of Financial Position [Extensible List]	us-gaap:OtherCurrentAssets	us-gaap:OtherCurrentAssets
Lease Assets	$ 37,457	$ 37,457
Liabilities, Current [Abstract]
Operating lease liability, current	$ 13,570	$ 13,570
Operating Lease, Liability, Current, Statement of Financial Position [Extensible List]	nbr:CurrentLeaseLiabilities	nbr:CurrentLeaseLiabilities
Liabilities, Noncurrent [Abstract]
Operating lease liability, noncurrent	$ 23,887	$ 23,887
Operating Lease, Liability, Noncurrent, Statement of Financial Position [Extensible List]	Other Liabilities, Noncurrent	Other Liabilities, Noncurrent
Lease, Cost [Abstract]
Operating lease cost	$ 4,007	$ 11,657
Short-term lease cost	741	1,893
Variable lease cost	217	464
Total lease cost	4,965	14,014
Other Information [Abstract]
Operating cash flows for operating leases		11,657
Operating leases	$ 4,661	$ 4,661
Lease Terms And Discount Rates [Abstract]
Weighted-average remaining lease term - operating leases	5 years 3 months 21 days	5 years 3 months 21 days
Weighted-average discount rate - operating leases	5.61%	5.61%
Undiscounted Cash Flows [Abstract]
2019	$ 4,275	$ 4,275
2020	14,014	14,014
2021	8,639	8,639
2022	5,435	5,435
2023	3,208	3,208
Thereafter	8,004	8,004
Total undiscounted lease liability	43,575	43,575
Less: amount of lease payments representing interest	(6,118)	(6,118)
Lease liability	37,457	37,457
Operating Lease, Liability, Current	13,570	13,570
Operating lease liability, noncurrent	23,887	23,887
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]
Lease liability	$ 42,800	$ 42,800