Supplemental Disclosures to the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Net cash provided by operating activities included:
Cash payments for interest	$ 112,196us-gaap_InterestPaid	$ 107,122us-gaap_InterestPaid	$ 103,350us-gaap_InterestPaid
Interest capitalized	(13,491)us-gaap_InterestPaidCapitalized	(15,995)us-gaap_InterestPaidCapitalized	(4,437)us-gaap_InterestPaidCapitalized
Cash payments for interest, net of amounts capitalized	98,705us-gaap_InterestPaidNet	91,127us-gaap_InterestPaidNet	98,913us-gaap_InterestPaidNet
Cash payments for income taxes	591us-gaap_IncomeTaxesPaidNet	641us-gaap_IncomeTaxesPaidNet	255us-gaap_IncomeTaxesPaidNet
Non-cash investing activities included:
Asset retirement obligation additions and revisions	7,461	9,036	1,079
Oil and Natural Gas Properties Acquired Through Increase (Decrease) in Accounts Payable and Accrued Liabilities	$ 43,971	$ 27,875	$ 24,280

Oil and Natural Gas Properties Acquired Through Increase (Decrease) in Accounts Payable and Accrued Liabilities

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- Definition

Net Increase or Decrease in the asset retirement obligation during the period.

+ References

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

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 410

-SubTopic 20

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (c)

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The amount of cash paid during the current period to foreign, federal, state, and local authorities as taxes on income, net of any cash received during the current period as refunds for the overpayment of taxes.

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- Definition

The amount of cash paid for interest during the period.

+ References

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

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 230

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 2

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6367179&loc=d3e4297-108586

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 230

-SubTopic 10

-Section 45

-Paragraph 25

-Subparagraph (e)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=31042434&loc=d3e3536-108585

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- Definition

The amount of cash paid during the current period for interest that is capitalized.

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The amount of cash paid for interest during the period net of cash paid for interest that is capitalized.

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