CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS (USD $)	12 Months Ended			112 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Dec. 31, 2011
Revenue and other income
Oil and gas sales	$ 559,551	$ 790,342	$ 661,922	$ 2,011,815
Interest income	32,969	52,607	299,550	5,946,703
Gain on sale of equipment	0	0	0	42,228
Total revenue and other income	592,520	842,949	961,472	8,000,746
Expenses
Operating	138,341	173,297	98,878	410,516
General and administrative	3,657,547	3,193,328	2,986,967	17,437,459
Consulting fees (note 12)	866,085	652,359	822,652	8,177,787
Professional fees	1,167,945	827,995	1,085,056	5,960,816
Depletion and depreciation	379,562	824,304	352,637	1,875,382
Accretion (note 7)	53,209	41,289	55,619	182,319
Foreign exchange (gain) loss	26,013	23,501	(16,090)	144,181
Impairment of oil and gas properties (note 6)	6,870,000	13,789,000	0	30,757,015
Total expenses	13,158,702	19,525,073	5,385,719	64,945,475
Net loss before tax	(12,566,182)	(18,682,124)	(4,424,247)	(56,944,729)
Current income tax benefit (expense) (note 14)	(60,188)	(45,500)	0	(105,688)
Deferred income tax benefit (expense) (note 14)	18,529	(61,000)	0	(42,471)
Net loss and comprehensive loss for the year	(12,607,841)	(18,788,624)	(4,424,247)	(57,092,888)
Warrant modification (note 10)	0	0	(1,754,000)	(3,074,000)
Net loss and comprehensive loss attributable to common stockholders	$ (12,607,841)	$ (18,788,624)	$ (6,178,247)	$ (60,166,888)
Basic and diluted net loss per share (note 13) (in dollars per share)	$ (0.15)	$ (0.25)	$ (0.09)