Parent, Guarantor, Non-Guarantor Unaudited Consolidating Condensed Financial Statements - Additional Information (Detail)	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2012
Supplemental Guarantor Financial Information [Line Items]
Percentage of guaranteed subsidiaries by the parent companies	100.00%

Percentage of ownership interest in guarantor subsidiaries by parent companies.

No definition available.

Name:	pkd_PercentageOfOwnershipInterestInGuarantorSubsidiariesByParentCompanies
Namespace Prefix:	pkd_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration