5. COMMODITY DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS (Details 2) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Commodity Derivative Instruments Details 2
Sales of natural gas and crude oil	$ 2,931,586	$ 4,572,679
Gains (losses) realized from sale of commodity derivatives	0	4,030,000
Other gains (losses) realized on commodity derivatives	1,159,114	906,834
Unrealized gains (losses) on commodity derivatives	(788,176)	(3,866,266)
Total revenue from natural gas and crude oil	$ 3,302,524	$ 5,643,247