LONG-TERM LIABILITIES (Details) (USD $)	6 Months Ended		1 Months Ended			6 Months Ended										3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended		1 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012 item	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011 Line of Credit	Jun. 30, 2012 Line of Credit	Dec. 15, 2011 Line of Credit	Jun. 30, 2012 Line of Credit Base Rate	Jun. 30, 2012 Line of Credit Prime rate	Jun. 30, 2012 Line of Credit Federal Funds rate	Jun. 30, 2012 Line of Credit LIBOR	Jun. 30, 2012 Line of Credit Minimum	Jun. 30, 2012 Line of Credit Minimum Federal Funds rate	Jun. 30, 2012 Line of Credit Minimum LIBOR	Jun. 30, 2012 Line of Credit Maximum Federal Funds rate	Jun. 30, 2012 Line of Credit Maximum LIBOR	Dec. 15, 2011 Prior line of credit facility	Jun. 30, 2012 Convertible debentures	Jun. 30, 2012 Convertible debentures	Jul. 01, 2012 Convertible debentures	Jul. 31, 2012 Convertible debentures Maximum
LONG-TERM LIABILITIES
Line of Credit	$ 99,500,000	$ 89,500,000
Convertible debentures	1,636,000	1,651,000
Debt collateralized by treasury stock	26,000	103,000
Asset retirement obligations	15,526,000	15,507,000
Litigation allowance	3,100,000	3,100,000
Drilling rig note payable		466,000
Total long-term liabilities	119,788,000	110,327,000
Less current portion	2,357,000	2,831,000
Long-term portion	117,431,000	107,496,000
Long-term liabilities
Term of credit facility			5 years
Option one per the terms of the debt agreement used in the calculation of the maximum borrowing capacity					300,000,000
Maximum borrowing capacity under prior agreement															250,000,000
Number of wholly owned subsidiaries	2
Initial borrowing base				130,000,000
Number of additional redetermination rights in each year	1
Credit line interest accrued				100,000
Amount outstanding on borrowing base				99,500,000
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)								1.50%				1.75%		2.75%
Additional margin (as a percent)											0.75%		1.75%
Weighted average interest rate (as a percent)				2.75%
Percentage of principal amount that may be converted from the date of issuance until maturity into common stock																100.00%	100.00%
Conversion price (in dollars per share)																$ 35	$ 35	$ 50
Percentage of debt issued and outstanding that the holder may tender each year																			10.00%
Redemption of bond	$ 15,000