Presentation (Details)	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2014
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Percentage of consolidated total assets and total revenues derived from oil and gas partnerships (less than 5%)	5.00%

Represents the threshold percentage of consolidated total assets and total revenues derived from oil and gas limited partnerships by the entity that would require additional disclosures of the partnerships.

No definition available.

Name:	cwei_MaximumPercentageOfConsolidatedTotalAssetsAndRevenuesDerivedFromOilAndGasLimitedPartnerships
Namespace Prefix:	cwei_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration