ORGANIZATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES - Status of Our Business, Liquidity and Going Concern - Additional Information (Details)										12 Months Ended
	Oct. 08, 2017 USD ($)	Sep. 19, 2017	Jul. 12, 2017	Jun. 12, 2017 USD ($)	Jun. 05, 2017 USD ($)	Jun. 02, 2017 USD ($)	Jan. 29, 2017 USD ($)	Sep. 15, 2016 USD ($) km² item m	Aug. 15, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Apr. 21, 2017 km²	Mar. 25, 2010 km²
Status of our Business
Additional participating interest (as a percent)										2.00%
Tullow and Dana | Settlement Agreement
Status of our Business
Ownership interest (as a percent)									100.00%
Settlement amount									$ 700,000
Success fee per million barrels									$ 50,000
Guinea Concession
Status of our Business
Ownership interest (as a percent)										37.00%
Extension period for second exploration (in years)								1 year
Number of exploratory wells drilled | item								1
Depth below seabed required to be drilled of an exploration well (in meters) | m								2,500
Contract area retained (in square kilometers/square miles) | km²								5,000				25,000
Maximum period of time over which current available liquidity could be exhausted								30 days
Estimated amount to limit cost recovery to share of expenditures								$ 165,000,000		$ 165,000,000
Portion of oil and gas equipment moved from Takoradi, Ghana to Guinea							$ 1,600,000
Total value of oil and gas equipment stored at Takoradi, Ghana								$ 4,100,000
Agreed amount in training budget							250,000			250,000
Estimated amount of unused portion of training program							$ 200,000			221,000
Maximum total budget										120,000
Estimated Unused portion of Budget										$ 22,000
Guinea Concession | Subsequent Event
Status of our Business
Appraisal period			2 years
Percentage of appraisal extension (as a percent)		100.00%
Guinea Concession | SAPETRO
Status of our Business
Ownership interest sold (as a percent)						50.00%
Preliminary closing statement					$ 4,100,000
Payment for legal settlement				$ 300,000
Guinea Concession | SAPETRO | Subsequent Event
Status of our Business
Settlement amount	$ 4,924,000
Guinea Concession | SAPETRO | Farm-out Agreement
Status of our Business
Settlement amount				$ 700,000
Contract area retained (in square kilometers/square miles) | km²											5,000
Ownership interest sold (as a percent)						50.00%
Additional participating interest (as a percent)										2.00%
Threshold amount for additional assigned 2% participating interest										$ 1,000,000
Participation interest in joint venture (as a percent)						100.00%
Estimated total drilling preparation cost						$ 4,400,000
Guinea Concession | Dana
Status of our Business
Ownership interest sold (as a percent)										23.00%
Guinea Concession | Tullow Guinea Ltd
Status of our Business
Ownership interest sold (as a percent)										40.00%
Guinea Concession | SAPETRO | Farm-out Agreement
Status of our Business
Contract area retained (in square kilometers/square miles) | km²											5,000
Ownership interest sold (as a percent)						50.00%