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Industry Segments and Geographic Information (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011
Corporate Overhead Footnote
General and administrative expense									$ 41,139,000	$ 40,506,000	$ 40,005,000
Depreciation and amortization									1,725,000	2,327,000	3,365,000
Interest expense									19,268,000tti_Corporateinterestexpense	16,715,000tti_Corporateinterestexpense	17,000,000tti_Corporateinterestexpense
Other general corporate (income) expense									4,223,000	2,711,000	1,638,000
Total									66,355,000tti_Totalcorporateoverheadperiod	62,259,000tti_Totalcorporateoverheadperiod	62,008,000tti_Totalcorporateoverheadperiod
Industry Segments Details [Line Items]
Product sales									374,978,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet	300,145,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet	276,155,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet	276,155,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet
Services and rentals									702,589,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueServicesNet	609,253,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueServicesNet	604,676,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueServicesNet	604,676,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueServicesNet
Intersegment eliminations									0us-gaap_RevenueFromRelatedParties	0us-gaap_RevenueFromRelatedParties	0us-gaap_RevenueFromRelatedParties
Revenues	315,850,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	306,371,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	242,489,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	212,857,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	225,435,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	254,303,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	221,101,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	208,559,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	1,077,567,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	909,398,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	880,831,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet	880,831,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
Depreciation, depletion, amortization, and accretion									116,912,000	80,985,000	75,747,000	75,747,000
Interest expense									32,835,000us-gaap_InterestIncomeExpenseNet	17,417,000us-gaap_InterestIncomeExpenseNet	17,378,000us-gaap_InterestIncomeExpenseNet
Income (loss) before taxes and discontinued operations									(157,871,000)	(128,000)	28,183,000	28,183,000
Assets	2,067,836,000us-gaap_Assets				1,206,533,000us-gaap_Assets				2,067,836,000us-gaap_Assets	1,206,533,000us-gaap_Assets	1,261,818,000us-gaap_Assets
Capital expenditures									131,609,000	101,379,000	107,524,000
Fluids Division [Member]
Industry Segments Details [Line Items]
Product sales										281,585,000	257,558,000
Services and rentals									142,139,000	101,040,000	76,858,000
Intersegment eliminations										38,000	132,000
Revenues									437,362,000	382,663,000	334,548,000
Depreciation, depletion, amortization, and accretion										22,508,000	19,034,000
Interest expense									23,000	37,000	77,000
Income (loss) before taxes and discontinued operations										69,438,000	50,830,000
Assets	423,989,000				400,028,000				423,989,000	400,028,000	387,034,000
Capital expenditures									41,307,000	45,238,000	31,839,000
Production Testing Division [Member]
Industry Segments Details [Line Items]
Product sales									0	0	0
Services and rentals										194,236,000	205,630,000
Intersegment eliminations										1,747,000	2,354,000
Revenues									192,824,000	195,983,000	207,984,000
Depreciation, depletion, amortization, and accretion										27,262,000	22,261,000
Interest expense									1,804,000	19,000	13,000
Income (loss) before taxes and discontinued operations										14,093,000	39,847,000
Assets	241,640,000				327,413,000				241,640,000	327,413,000	337,208,000
Capital expenditures									31,226,000	26,757,000	40,025,000
CSI Compressco [Member]
Industry Segments Details [Line Items]
Product sales									74,827,000	8,293,000	6,322,000
Services and rentals									207,679,000	112,994,000	103,144,000
Intersegment eliminations									0	0	0
Revenues										121,287,000	109,466,000
Depreciation, depletion, amortization, and accretion									41,097,000	14,511,000	13,398,000
Interest expense									13,361,000	500,000	81,000
Income (loss) before taxes and discontinued operations										20,200,000	20,598,000
Assets	1,272,583,000				230,829,000				1,272,583,000	230,829,000	219,838,000
Capital expenditures									37,516,000	24,103,000	22,215,000
Production Enhancement Division Eliminations [Member]
Industry Segments Details [Line Items]
Income (loss) before taxes and discontinued operations									0	0	0
Offshore Services [Member]
Industry Segments Details [Line Items]
Product sales										4,707,000	6,267,000
Services and rentals										200,983,000	218,477,000
Intersegment eliminations									30,595,000	50,122,000	41,199,000
Revenues									195,372,000	255,812,000	265,943,000
Depreciation, depletion, amortization, and accretion									13,327,000	14,254,000	16,650,000
Interest expense										109,000	109,000
Income (loss) before taxes and discontinued operations										22,870,000	21,706,000
Assets	129,350,000				181,617,000				129,350,000	181,617,000	188,034,000
Capital expenditures									20,013,000	4,207,000	12,050,000
Maritech [Member]
Industry Segments Details [Line Items]
Product sales										5,560,000	6,008,000
Services and rentals									0	0	150,000
Intersegment eliminations									0	0	0
Revenues										5,560,000	6,158,000
Depreciation, depletion, amortization, and accretion									160,000	123,000	1,039,000
Interest expense										11,000	98,000
Income (loss) before taxes and discontinued operations										(64,365,000)	(42,790,000)
Assets	9,924,000				46,903,000				9,924,000	46,903,000	75,383,000
Capital expenditures									0	21,000	343,000
Offshore Division Eliminations [Member]
Industry Segments Details [Line Items]
Services and rentals										0	0
Intersegment eliminations										(50,122,000)	(41,199,000)
Revenues									(30,595,000)	(50,122,000)	(41,199,000)
Depreciation, depletion, amortization, and accretion										0	0
Interest expense										0	0
Income (loss) before taxes and discontinued operations										0	0
Assets	0				0				0	0	0
Capital expenditures									0	0	0
Total Offshore Division [Member]
Industry Segments Details [Line Items]
Product sales									5,256,000	10,267,000	12,275,000
Services and rentals									164,243,000	200,983,000	218,627,000
Intersegment eliminations									0	0	0
Revenues									169,499,000	211,250,000	230,902,000
Depreciation, depletion, amortization, and accretion									13,487,000	14,377,000	17,689,000
Interest expense									36,000	120,000	207,000
Income (loss) before taxes and discontinued operations									(97,405,000)	(41,495,000)	(21,084,000)
Assets	139,274,000				228,520,000				139,274,000	228,520,000	263,417,000
Capital expenditures									20,013,000	4,228,000	12,393,000
Intersegment Eliminations [Member]
Industry Segments Details [Line Items]
Intersegment eliminations									(4,623,000)	(1,785,000)	(2,486,000)
Revenues									(4,623,000)	(1,785,000)	(2,486,000)
Corporate Overhead [Member]
Industry Segments Details [Line Items]
Services and rentals										0	417,000
Revenues									0	0	417,000
Depreciation, depletion, amortization, and accretion									1,725,000	2,327,000	3,365,000
Interest expense									17,611,000	16,741,000	17,000,000
Income (loss) before taxes and discontinued operations										(62,364,000)	(62,008,000)
Assets	(9,650,000)				19,743,000				(9,650,000)	19,743,000	54,321,000
Capital expenditures									$ 1,547,000	$ 1,053,000	$ 1,052,000