Commitments and Contingencies-Purchase obligations (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Jun. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Advances for rigs and drillships under construction	$ 780,418	$ 754,925
Seventh Generation Drillships [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Purchase Obligation due in the third and fourth quarter 2013	1,096,826
Advances for rigs and drillships under construction	$ 726,681

Gross amount, at the balance sheet date, of long-lived assets under construction that include construction costs to date on capital projects that have not been completed and assets being constructed that are not ready to be placed into service.

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

-Publisher AICPA

-Name Accounting Principles Board Opinion (APB)

-Number 12

-Paragraph 5

-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

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

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 360

-SubTopic 10

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (b)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6391035&loc=d3e2868-110229

Name:	us-gaap_ConstructionInProgressGross
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant