Available For Sale Investments (Details)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended			0 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2008 Riverstone Resources, Inc.	Mar. 31, 2008 Riverstone Resources, Inc. Warrant Exercised [Member] USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2008 Riverstone Resources, Inc. Warrant Exercised [Member] CAD	Feb. 02, 2012 Riverstone Resources, Inc. Sale of Business USD ($)
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Roll Forward]
Available-for-sale securities - beginning of period			$ 1,416,000	$ 928,000	$ 928,000
Available-for-sale securities - beginning of period (shares)			2,000,000	1,300,000	1,300,000
Acquisitions			17,117,000		469,000		1,300,000		15,800,000
Acquisitions (shares)			23,676,301		700,000	2,000,000
Dispositions			(445,000)		0
Dispositions (shares)			(638,700)		0
OCI - unrealized gain/(loss)			(271,000)		19,000
Available-for-sale securities - end of period	17,817,000		17,817,000		1,416,000
Available-for-sale securities - end of period (shares)	25,037,601		25,037,601		2,000,000
Warrants exercise price (CDN$ per share)								0.45
Cash consideration for warrants exercised								900,000
Cash generated from sale of subsidiary									6,600,000
Shares generated from sale (shares)									21,700,000
Loss related to investment holdings recognized through Comprehensive Income	$ (8,679,000)	$ 59,000	$ 271,000	$ (280,000)