Basis of Presentation	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2018
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Basis of Presentation	BASIS OF PRESENTATION The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements of Seitel, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”) have been prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and notes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. In preparing the Company’s financial statements, a number of estimates and assumptions are made by management that affect the accounting for and recognition of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses. Operating results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for any other quarter of 2018 or for the year ending December 31, 2018. The condensed consolidated balance sheet of the Company as of December 31, 2017 has been derived from the audited balance sheet of the Company as of that date. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming the Company will continue as a going concern. The Company’s $250.0 million 9½% senior notes (the “9½% Senior Notes”) mature on April 15, 2019. While the Company is currently evaluating its options to refinance all or a portion of this debt, no firm plans for refinancing have been reached. As a result of the debt maturing in less than one year from the issuance of these financial statements and the Company not having firm plans in place related to a refinancing, substantial doubt is raised about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon the Company’s ability to restructure or refinance at least a portion of its outstanding debt as it matures. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to refinance or extend principal payments due at maturity or pay them with proceeds of other capital transactions and the Company’s cash flow may not be sufficient to repay all such maturing debt. The accompanying financial statements do not include any adjustments that might be necessary if the Company is unable to continue as a going concern. Effective January 1, 2018, the Company adopted Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)” utilizing the modified retrospective approach, recognizing approximately $0.2 million that was in deferred revenue as of December 31, 2017 to retained earnings. This amount represents the cumulative catch-up of revenue recognition on uncompleted contracts as of January 1, 2018 on non-exclusive data licenses (resale licenses) of seismic surveys that are in the process of being created and where the resale licensing customers have been granted the same legally enforceable rights and access to and use of the results of the acquisition work performed as the original acquisition underwriting clients. Prior to adoption of the new standard, the Company recognized revenue on these resale licenses when the data was available for delivery. Upon adoption, the Company now recognizes the revenue for these specific resale licensing agreements during the remaining survey creation period, resulting in revenue being recognized earlier. Other than this change in policy, ongoing application of the new standard will not have a significant impact to the Company’s revenue recognition but has resulted in expanded disclosures. See further discussion and expanded revenue recognition disclosures at Note B - “Revenue Recognition.” Effective April 1, 2018, the Company adopted ASU No. 2017-04, “Intangibles - Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment.” The new standard simplifies the measurement of goodwill impairment by eliminating Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test. Prior to adoption of the new standard, Step 2 measured a goodwill impairment loss by comparing the implied fair value of a reporting unit’s goodwill with the carrying amount of that goodwill. In order to compute the implied fair value of goodwill under Step 2, an entity had to perform procedures to determine the fair value at the impairment testing date of its assets and liabilities following the same procedure that would be required for purchase price allocation in a business combination. Under the new standard, a goodwill impairment loss is measured using the difference between the carrying amount and the fair value of the reporting unit limited to the total carrying amount of that reporting unit’s goodwill. The Company performed a goodwill impairment test as of June 30, 2018 utilizing the simplified method as prescribed by ASU No. 2017-04. See further discussion at Note D - “Goodwill and Other Intangibles.”

BASIS OF PRESENTATION

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements of Seitel, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”) have been prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and notes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. In preparing the Company’s financial statements, a number of estimates and assumptions are made by management that affect the accounting for and recognition of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses. Operating results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for any other quarter of 2018 or for the year ending December 31, 2018. The condensed consolidated balance sheet of the Company as of December 31, 2017 has been derived from the audited balance sheet of the Company as of that date. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017.

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming the Company will continue as a going concern. The Company’s $250.0 million 9½% senior notes (the “9½% Senior Notes”) mature on April 15, 2019. While the Company is currently evaluating its options to refinance all or a portion of this debt, no firm plans for refinancing have been reached. As a result of the debt maturing in less than one year from the issuance of these financial statements and the Company not having firm plans in place related to a refinancing, substantial doubt is raised about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon the Company’s ability to restructure or refinance at least a portion of its outstanding debt as it matures. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to refinance or extend principal payments due at maturity or pay them with proceeds of other capital transactions and the Company’s cash flow may not be sufficient to repay all such maturing debt. The accompanying financial statements do not include any adjustments that might be necessary if the Company is unable to continue as a going concern.

Effective January 1, 2018, the Company adopted Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)” utilizing the modified retrospective approach, recognizing approximately $0.2 million that was in deferred revenue as of December 31, 2017 to retained earnings. This amount represents the cumulative catch-up of revenue recognition on uncompleted contracts as of January 1, 2018 on non-exclusive data licenses (resale licenses) of seismic surveys that are in the process of being created and where the resale licensing customers have been granted the same legally enforceable rights and access to and use of the results of the acquisition work performed as the original acquisition underwriting clients. Prior to adoption of the new standard, the Company recognized revenue on these resale licenses when the data was available for delivery. Upon adoption, the Company now recognizes the revenue for these specific resale licensing agreements during the remaining survey creation period, resulting in revenue being recognized earlier. Other than this change in policy, ongoing application of the new standard will not have a significant impact to the Company’s revenue recognition but has resulted in expanded disclosures. See further discussion and expanded revenue recognition disclosures at Note B - “Revenue Recognition.”

Effective April 1, 2018, the Company adopted ASU No. 2017-04, “Intangibles - Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment.” The new standard simplifies the measurement of goodwill impairment by eliminating Step 2 from the goodwill impairment test. Prior to adoption of the new standard, Step 2 measured a goodwill impairment loss by comparing the implied fair value of a reporting unit’s goodwill with the carrying amount of that goodwill. In order to compute the implied fair value of goodwill under Step 2, an entity had to perform procedures to determine the fair value at the impairment testing date of its assets and liabilities following the same procedure that would be required for purchase price allocation in a business combination. Under the new standard, a goodwill impairment loss is measured using the difference between the carrying amount and the fair value of the reporting unit limited to the total carrying amount of that reporting unit’s goodwill. The Company performed a goodwill impairment test as of June 30, 2018 utilizing the simplified method as prescribed by ASU No. 2017-04. See further discussion at Note D - “Goodwill and Other Intangibles.”