LONG-TERM LIABILITIES (Details 2) (USD $)	12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013 item	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2002	Sep. 30, 2010 Drilling rig item	Dec. 31, 2010 Drilling rig	Dec. 31, 2011 Line of Credit	Dec. 31, 2013 Line of Credit	Dec. 15, 2011 Line of Credit	Dec. 31, 2013 Line of Credit Base Rate	Dec. 31, 2013 Line of Credit Prime rate	Dec. 31, 2013 Line of Credit Federal Funds rate	Dec. 31, 2013 Line of Credit LIBOR	Dec. 31, 2013 Line of Credit Minimum	Dec. 31, 2013 Line of Credit Minimum Federal Funds rate	Dec. 31, 2013 Line of Credit Minimum LIBOR	Dec. 31, 2013 Line of Credit Maximum Federal Funds rate	Dec. 31, 2013 Line of Credit Maximum LIBOR
LONG-TERM LIABILITIES
Line of Credit	$ 94,500,000	$ 99,500,000
Debentures	1,636,000	1,636,000
Asset retirement obligations	26,785,000	25,236,000	15,507,000
Litigation allowance	3,100,000	3,100,000
Total long-term liabilities	126,021,000	129,472,000
Less current maturities	1,936,000	1,790,000
Long-term portion	124,085,000	127,682,000
Long-term liabilities
Number of shares agreed to be purchased from a shareholder through the issuance of a noninterest-bearing note				702,500
Discounted rate of noninterest-bearing note (as a percent)	10.00%
Monthly principal payments of noninterest-bearing note			13,000
Purchase price of drilling rig acquired during the year						7,000,000
Part payment made to acquire drilling rig	69,162,000	61,397,000	56,598,000			3,500,000
Amount of non-interest bearing secured note issued against settlement of cost of drilling rig					3,500,000
Number of equal monthly payments					15
Term of credit facility							5 years
Maximum borrowing capacity under prior agreement									300,000,000
Option one per the terms of the debt agreement used in the calculation of the maximum borrowing capacity									250,000,000
Number of wholly-owned subsidiaries that guarantee Line of Credit Facility	2
Initial borrowing base								165,000,000
Number of additional redetermination rights in each year	1
Current ratio														1.0
Annualized consolidated EBITDAX to net interest expense ratio														2.5
Variable rate basis										Base Rate	Prime rate	Federal Funds	LIBOR
Margin (as a percent)												0.50%				1.75%		2.75%
Additional margin (as a percent)															0.75%		1.75%
Borrowing base increased	$ 5,000,000	$ 20,000,000	$ 98,657,000					$ 94,500,000
Weighted average interest rate (as a percent)								2.40%