Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited) (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Revenues:
Oil and gas sales	$ 33,451us-gaap_OilAndGasSalesRevenue	$ 59,966us-gaap_OilAndGasSalesRevenue
Expenses:
Lease operating expenses	10,902us-gaap_LeaseOperatingExpense	12,258us-gaap_LeaseOperatingExpense
Production taxes	956us-gaap_ProductionTaxExpense	1,477us-gaap_ProductionTaxExpense
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	20,654	20,428
Ceiling test write-down	108,911	0
General and administrative	5,339us-gaap_GeneralAndAdministrativeExpense	6,242us-gaap_GeneralAndAdministrativeExpense
Accretion of asset retirement obligation	859	791
Interest expense	7,874us-gaap_FinancingInterestExpense	7,636us-gaap_FinancingInterestExpense
Total expenses	155,495pq_ExpensesGross	48,832pq_ExpensesGross
Other income:
Other income	157us-gaap_OtherOperatingIncome	189us-gaap_OtherOperatingIncome
Income (loss) from operations	(121,887)us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	11,323us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
Income tax benefit	(927)us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	0us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Net income (loss)	(120,960)us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss	11,323us-gaap_NetIncomeLoss
Preferred stock dividend	1,280	1,280
Income (loss) available to common stockholders	$ (122,240)	$ 10,043
Basic
Net income (loss) per share (in usd per share)	$ (1.89)us-gaap_EarningsPerShareBasic	$ 0.15us-gaap_EarningsPerShareBasic
Diluted
Net income (loss) per share (in usd per share)	$ (1.89)us-gaap_EarningsPerShareDiluted	$ 0.15us-gaap_EarningsPerShareDiluted
Weighted average number of common shares:
Basic (shares)	64,774	63,846
Diluted (shares)	64,774	63,902

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