Long-Term Debt and Other Borrowings (Details 1) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Long-term debt [Line Items]
Total debt	$ 332,373	$ 366,709
Less current portion	252	35,441
Long-term debt, net	332,121	331,268
Bank revolving line of credit facility [Member]
Long-term debt [Line Items]
Maturity date	Jun. 26, 2015
Total debt	12,821	51,218
Senior Notes Series 2006-A [Member]
Long-term debt [Line Items]
Senior Note interest rate	5.90%
Maturity date	Apr. 30, 2016
Total debt	90,000	90,000
Senior Notes Series 2008-A [Member]
Long-term debt [Line Items]
Senior Note interest rate	6.30%
Maturity date	Apr. 30, 2013
Total debt	35,000	35,000
Senior Notes Series 2008-B [Member]
Long-term debt [Line Items]
Senior Note interest rate	6.56%
Maturity date	Apr. 30, 2015
Total debt	90,000	90,000
Senior Notes Series 2010-A [Member]
Long-term debt [Line Items]
Senior Note interest rate	5.09%
Maturity date	Dec. 15, 2017
Total debt	65,000	65,000
Senior Notes Series 2010-B [Member]
Long-term debt [Line Items]
Senior Note interest rate	5.67%
Maturity date	Dec. 15, 2020
Total debt	25,000	25,000
European bank credit facility [Member]
Long-term debt [Line Items]
Total debt	0	0
Compressco Partners' bank credit facility [Member]
Long-term debt [Line Items]
Maturity date	Jun. 24, 2015
Total debt	14,300	10,050
Other long-term debt [Member]
Long-term debt [Line Items]
Total debt	$ 252	$ 441