TransAtlantic Petroleum (TAT) 10-Q 7 Nov 13 2013 Q3 Quarterly report Financial data

Document_and_Entity_Informatio

Document and Entity Information	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Nov. 01, 2013
Document And Entity Information [Abstract]	'	'
Document Type	'10-Q	'
Amendment Flag	'false	'
Document Period End Date	30-Sep-13	'
Document Fiscal Year Focus	'2013	'
Document Fiscal Period Focus	'Q3	'
Trading Symbol	'TAT	'
Entity Registrant Name	'TRANSATLANTIC PETROLEUM LTD.	'
Entity Central Index Key	'0001092289	'
Current Fiscal Year End Date	'--12-31	'
Entity Filer Category	'Accelerated Filer	'
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding	'	373,382,280

Consolidated_Balance_Sheets

Consolidated Balance Sheets (USD $)	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
In Thousands, unless otherwise specified
Current assets:	'	'
Cash and cash equivalents	$12,271	$14,768
Accounts receivable	'	'
Oil and natural gas sales, net	28,949	34,158
Joint interest and other	11,280	18,192
Related party	618	419
Prepaid and other current assets	3,875	2,339
Deferred income taxes	2,469	1,895
Assets held for sale	601	1,619
Total current assets	60,063	73,390
Oil and natural gas properties (successful efforts method)	'	'
Proved	254,070	231,498
Unproved	62,832	68,938
Equipment and other property	42,229	35,747
Property and equipment, gross	359,131	336,183
Less accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization	-98,025	-80,031
Property and equipment, net	261,106	256,152
Other long-term assets:	'	'
Other assets	7,162	8,195
Note receivable - related party	11,500	11,500
Goodwill	7,906	9,021
Total other assets	26,568	28,716
Total assets	347,737	358,258
Current liabilities:	'	'
Accounts payable	14,406	12,864
Accounts payable - related party	23,859	15,634
Accrued liabilities	20,385	29,972
Derivative liabilities	2,721	3,908
Asset retirement obligations	916	818
Liabilities held for sale	7,355	8,416
Total current liabilities	69,642	71,612
Long-term liabilities:	'	'
Asset retirement obligations	10,362	11,140
Accrued liabilities	6,323	7,548
Deferred income taxes	17,116	16,483
Loan payable	49,766	32,766
Derivative liabilities	3,048	4,882
Total long-term liabilities	86,615	72,819
Total liabilities	156,257	144,431
Commitments and contingencies	'	'
Shareholders' equity:	'	'
Common shares, $0.01 par value, 1,000,000,000 shares authorized; 373,382,280 shares issued and outstanding as of September 30, 2013 and 368,748,592 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2012	3,734	3,687
Additional paid-in capital	541,704	537,962
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	-55,017	-28,012
Accumulated deficit	-298,941	-299,810
Total shareholders' equity	191,480	213,827
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	$347,737	$358,258

Consolidated_Balance_Sheets_Pa

Consolidated Balance Sheets (Parenthetical) (USD $)	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Statement Of Financial Position [Abstract]	'	'
Common shares, par value	$0.01	$0.01
Common shares, authorized	1,000,000,000	1,000,000,000
Common shares, issued	373,382,280	368,748,592
Common shares, outstanding	373,382,280	368,748,592

Consolidated_Statements_of_Com

Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income (Loss) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012
Revenues:	'	'	'	'
Oil and natural gas sales	$31,648	$32,603	$93,828	$99,160
Sales of purchased natural gas	1,511	1,883	5,751	5,546
Other	144	329	999	2,043
Total revenues	33,303	34,815	100,578	106,749
Costs and expenses:	'	'	'	'
Production	4,591	4,542	13,446	12,470
Exploration, abandonment and impairment	2,243	2,104	17,992	11,783
Cost of purchased natural gas	1,437	1,862	5,483	5,498
Seismic and other exploration	5,052	1,725	6,385	3,236
Revaluation of contingent consideration	'	'	-5,000	'
General and administrative	6,367	6,744	20,783	25,301
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	11,487	8,147	30,044	26,698
Accretion of asset retirement obligations	114	164	367	579
Total costs and expenses	31,291	25,288	89,500	85,565
Operating income	2,012	9,527	11,078	21,184
Other income (expense):	'	'	'	'
Interest and other expense	-919	-1,086	-2,764	-6,363
Interest and other income	282	1,019	964	1,501
(Loss) gain on commodity derivative contracts	-3,137	-7,146	365	-5,277
Foreign exchange (loss) gain	-2,923	-133	-5,953	3,066
Total other expense	-6,697	-7,346	-7,388	-7,073
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income taxes	-4,685	2,181	3,690	14,111
Current income tax benefit (expense)	1,284	-1,440	-583	-3,882
Deferred income tax expense	-1,417	-272	-1,990	-2,660
Net (loss) income from continuing operations	-4,818	469	1,117	7,569
(Loss) income from discontinued operations before income taxes	-155	122	-248	-4,540
Gain on disposal of discontinued operations	'	6,437	'	33,651
Income tax provision	'	-34	'	-8,207
Net (loss) income from discontinued operations	-155	6,525	-248	20,904
Net (loss) income	-4,973	6,994	869	28,473
Other comprehensive (loss) income:	'	'	'	'
Foreign currency translation adjustment	-10,626	3,146	-27,005	17,650
Comprehensive (loss) income	($15,599)	$10,140	($26,136)	$46,123
Basic net (loss) income per common share:	'	'	'	'
Continuing operations	($0.01)	$0	$0	$0.02
Discontinued operations	$0	$0.02	$0	$0.06
Weighted average common shares outstanding	371,503	367,960	369,785	366,981
Diluted net (loss) income per common share:	'	'	'	'
Continuing operations	($0.01)	$0	$0	$0.02
Discontinued operations	$0	$0.02	$0	$0.06
Weighted average common and common equivalent shares outstanding	371,503	370,020	369,785	368,869

Consolidated_Statements_of_Equ

Consolidated Statements of Equity (USD $)	Total	Common Shares [Member]	Additional Paid-in Capital [Member]	Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss [Member]	Accumulated Deficit [Member]
In Thousands
Beginning balance at Dec. 31, 2012	$213,827	$3,687	$537,962	($28,012)	($299,810)
Beginning balance, shares at Dec. 31, 2012	'	368,749	'	'	'
Issuance of common shares	2,500	35	2,465	'	'
Issuance of common shares (in shares)	'	3,511	'	'	'
Issuance of restricted stock units	'	12	-12	'	'
Issuance of restricted stock units, shares	'	1,122	'	'	'
Tax withholding on restricted stock units	-40	'	-40	'	'
Share-based compensation	1,329	'	1,329	'	'
Foreign currency translation adjustments	-27,005	'	'	-27,005	'
Net income	869	'	'	'	869
Ending balance at Sep. 30, 2013	$191,480	$3,734	$541,704	($55,017)	($298,941)
Ending balance, shares at Sep. 30, 2013	'	373,382	'	'	'

Consolidated_Statements_of_Cas

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (USD $)	9 Months Ended
In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012
Operating activities:	'	'
Net income	$869	$28,473
Adjustment for net loss (income) from discontinued operations	248	-20,904
Net income from continuing operations	1,117	7,569
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:	'	'
Share-based compensation	1,329	1,506
Foreign currency loss	5,053	1,997
Unrealized (gain) loss on commodity derivative contracts	-3,020	2,177
Amortization of loan financing costs	383	846
Deferred income tax expense	1,990	2,660
Exploration, abandonment and impairment	17,992	11,783
Depreciation, depletion and amortization	30,044	26,698
Accretion of asset retirement obligations	367	579
Revaluation of contingent consideration	-5,000	'
Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net of effect of acquisitions:	'	'
Accounts receivable	5,657	-24,928
Prepaid expenses and other assets	-1,547	4,684
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	15,431	18,998
Net cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations	69,796	54,569
Net cash used in operating activities from discontinued operations	-1,224	-24,138
Net cash provided by operating activities	68,572	30,431
Investing activities:	'	'
Additions to oil and natural gas properties	-76,435	-45,982
Additions to equipment and other properties	-11,538	-451
Restricted cash	-194	1,059
Net cash used in investing activities from continuing operations	-88,167	-45,374
Net cash provided by investing activities from discontinued operations	1,016	156,150
Net cash (used in) provided by investing activities	-87,151	110,776
Financing activities:	'	'
Exercise of stock options and warrants	'	642
Tax withholding on restricted stock units	-40	-147
Loan proceeds	40,856	16,976
Loan proceeds-related party	'	11,000
Loan repayment	-23,642	-69,940
Loan financing costs	'	-250
Loan repayment-related party	'	-84,000
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities from continuing operations	17,174	-125,719
Net cash used in financing activities from discontinued operations	'	-5,049
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	17,174	-130,768
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash	-1,092	614
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	-2,497	11,053
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year	14,768	15,116
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period	12,271	26,169
Supplemental disclosures:	'	'
Cash paid for interest	2,263	5,603
Cash paid for taxes	2,387	3,513
Supplemental non-cash investing and financing activities:	'	'
Issuance of common shares-amendment to purchase agreement	2,500	'
Note receivable-related party from sale of oilfield services business	'	$11,500

General

General	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Accounting Policies [Abstract]	'
General	'
	1. General
	Nature of operations
	TransAtlantic Petroleum Ltd. (together with its subsidiaries, “we,” “us,” “our,” the “Company” or “TransAtlantic”) is an international oil and natural gas company engaged in acquisition, exploration, development and production. We have focused our operations in countries that have established yet underexplored petroleum systems, have stable governments, are net importers of petroleum, have an existing petroleum transportation infrastructure and provide favorable commodity pricing, royalty rates and tax rates to exploration and production companies. We hold interests in developed and undeveloped oil and natural gas properties in Turkey and Bulgaria. As of September 30, 2013, approximately 40% of our outstanding common shares were beneficially owned by N. Malone Mitchell 3rd, our chief executive officer and chairman of our board of directors.
	Basis of presentation
	Our consolidated financial statements are expressed in U.S. Dollars and have been prepared by management in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”). All amounts in these notes to the consolidated financial statements are in U.S. Dollars unless otherwise indicated. We have prepared the accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), and in the opinion of management, such consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments necessary to present fairly the consolidated financial position of TransAtlantic at September 30, 2013 and its results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented. We have omitted certain information and disclosures normally included in annual consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP pursuant to those rules and regulations, although we believe that the disclosures we have made are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. These unaudited interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and related footnotes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012. Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation.
	In preparing the accompanying consolidated financial statements, management has made certain estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts in the consolidated financial statements and disclosures. The results of operations for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results we expect for the full year.
	Reclassification
	As reported in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, we reclassified certain amounts previously reported on our consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) to conform to current year presentation. Specifically, we reclassified the revenue and cost related to natural gas purchased from third parties. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, these reclassifications increased total revenues and costs and expenses by approximately $1.9 million and $5.5 million, respectively.
	Revision of prior period financial statements
	During the three months ended March 31, 2013, we identified and corrected errors previously reported on our consolidated statements of cash flows. As a result, we increased the “Exploration, abandonment and impairment” sub-caption, which is an adjustment to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities, and increased the cash used in investing activities related to “Additions to oil and natural gas properties” by $3.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2012, as we previously did not include the cash portion of additions to oil and natural gas properties in investing activities for dry-hole expenses that were recognized in the same period as the related cash disbursed. These amounts had also been excluded from the adjustment to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities.
	We assessed the materiality of the errors in accordance with the SEC guidance on considering the effects of prior period misstatements based on an analysis of quantitative and qualitative factors. Based on this analysis, we determined that the errors were immaterial to each of the prior reporting periods affected and, therefore, amendments of reports previously filed with the SEC were not required. Accordingly, we have reflected the correction of these prior period errors in the periods in which they originated and revised our consolidated statement of cash flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
	The following shows the effect of the out-of-period errors on our consolidated statement of cash flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 (in thousands):
		As Reported			Correction			As Revised
	For the nine months ended September 30, 2012
	Operating activities:
	Exploration, abandonment and impairment	$	7,869		$	3,914		$	11,783
	Net cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations		50,655			3,914			54,569
	Net cash provided by operating activities		26,517			3,914			30,431
	Investing activities:
	Additions to oil and natural gas properties		(42,068	)		(3,914	)		(45,982	)
	Net cash used in investing activities from continuing operations		(41,460	)		(3,914	)		(45,374	)
	Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	$	114,690		$	(3,914	)	$	110,776

Recent_accounting_policies

Recent accounting policies	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Accounting Policies [Abstract]	'
Recent accounting policies	'
	2. Recent accounting policies
	In February 2013, the Financial Accounting Standard Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2013-02, New Disclosures for Items Reclassified Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (“ASU 2013-02”). ASU 2013-02 requires reclassification adjustments for items that are reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income to net income to be presented in the statements where the components of net income and the components of other comprehensive income are presented or in the footnotes to the financial statements. Additionally, the amendment requires cross-referencing to other disclosures currently required for other reclassification items. The amendments were effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2012. The adoption of ASU 2013-02 did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
	We have reviewed recently issued, but not yet adopted, accounting standards in order to determine their effects, if any, on our results of operations, financial position and cash flows. Based on that review, we believe that none of the recent pronouncements will have a significant effect on current or future earnings or operations.

Discontinued_operations

Discontinued operations	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Discontinued Operations And Disposal Groups [Abstract]	'
Discontinued operations	'
	3. Discontinued operations
	Discontinued operations in Morocco
	In June 2011, we decided to discontinue our operations in Morocco. We have presented the Moroccan segment operating results as discontinued operations for all periods presented.
	The following shows our assets and liabilities held for sale at September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012:
			September 30, 2013			December 31, 2012
			(in thousands)
	Cash		$	91		$	93
	Other assets (1)			510			1,526
	Total assets held for sale		$	601		$	1,619
	Accrued expenses and other liabilities		$	7,355		$	8,416
	Total liabilities held for sale		$	7,355		$	8,416
	-1	Other assets consist primarily of $0.5 million and $1.5 million of restricted cash at September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012, respectively.
	Discontinued operations of oilfield services business
	In June 2012, we closed the sale of our oilfield services business, which was substantially comprised of our wholly owned subsidiaries Viking International Limited (“Viking International”) and Viking Geophysical Services, Ltd. (“Viking Geophysical”), to a joint venture owned by Dalea Partners, LP (“Dalea”) and funds advised by Abraaj Investment Management Limited for an aggregate purchase price of $168.5 million, consisting of approximately $157.0 million in cash and a $11.5 million promissory note from Dalea. The promissory note bears interest at a rate of 3.0% per annum and is guaranteed by Mr. Mitchell. We have presented the oilfield services segment operating results as discontinued operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013 and September 30, 2012.
	Our operating results from discontinued operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013 and 2012 are summarized as follows:
			For the Three Months Ended						For the Nine Months Ended
			September 30,						September 30,
			2013			2012			2013			2012
			(in thousands)
	Total revenues		$	—		$	—		$	—		$	20,956
	Total costs and expenses			(173	)		(223	)		(311	)		(25,074	)
	Total other income (expense)			18			345			63			(422	)
	(Loss) income from discontinued operations before income taxes			(155	)		122			(248	)		(4,540	)
	Gain on disposal of discontinued operations			—			6,437			—			33,651
	Income tax provision			—			(34	)		—			(8,207	)
	Net (loss) income from discontinued operations		$	(155	)	$	6,525		$	(248	)	$	20,904

Property_and_equipment

Property and equipment	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Property Plant And Equipment [Abstract]	'
Property and equipment	'
	4. Property and equipment
	Oil and natural gas properties
	The following table sets forth the capitalized costs under the successful efforts method for our oil and natural gas properties as of:
		September 30, 2013			December 31, 2012
		(in thousands)
	Oil and natural gas properties, proved:
	Turkey	$	252,866		$	229,462
	Bulgaria		1,204			2,036
	Total oil and natural gas properties, proved		254,070			231,498
	Oil and natural gas properties, unproved:
	Turkey		62,564			68,938
	Bulgaria		268			—
	Total oil and natural gas properties, unproved		62,832			68,938
	Gross oil and natural gas properties		316,902			300,436
	Accumulated depletion		(91,038	)		(74,099	)
	Net oil and natural gas properties	$	225,864		$	226,337
	At September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012, we excluded $2.7 million and $1.8 million, respectively, from the depletion calculation for proved development wells currently in progress and for costs associated with fields currently not in production.
	At September 30, 2013, the capitalized costs of our net oil and natural gas properties included $38.7 million relating to acquisition costs of proved properties, which are being amortized by the unit-of-production method using total proved reserves, and $121.6 million relating to well costs and additional development costs, which are being amortized by the unit-of-production method using proved developed reserves.
	At December 31, 2012, the capitalized costs of our oil and natural gas properties included $49.5 million relating to acquisition costs of proved properties before a fourth quarter 2012 impairment charge, which are being amortized by the unit-of-production method using total proved reserves, and $105.3 million relating to well costs and additional development costs, which are being amortized by the unit-of-production method using proved developed reserves.
	During the nine months ended September 30, 2013, we incurred approximately $37.0 million in exploratory drilling costs, of which $6.1 million was included in exploration, abandonment and impairment expense, $16.1 million was reclassified from unproved properties to proved properties and $14.8 million remained capitalized at September 30, 2013. No exploratory well costs were reclassified to proved properties in the three months ended September 30, 2013. Uncertainties affect the recoverability of costs of our oil and natural gas properties, as the recovery of the costs are dependent upon us maintaining licenses in good standing and achieving commercial production or sale.
	Capitalized cost greater than one year
	As of September 30, 2013, we had $2.7 million of exploratory well costs capitalized for the Kazanci-5 well, which we spud in September 2012. We recently finished a long-term pressure build up on the current completion. We have identified potential pay up-hole. We are evaluating, with our partners, whether to test another unconventional zone or move up to the conventional pay and establish production.
	Dry-hole costs
	As of June 30, 2013, we had $4.3 million of exploratory well costs capitalized for the Pancarkoy-1 well, which we began drilling in the fourth quarter of 2010. After the second fracture stimulation of the Pancarkoy-1 well, commercial natural gas production could not be sustained due to the high amount of water production. A third fracture stimulation of the Pancarkoy-1 well was performed in April 2012, but commercial production could not be sustained due to high water production. In the fourth quarter of 2012, we tested the up-hole interval of the well. A further fracture stimulation of this well was performed in the second quarter of 2013, but commercial production could not be sustained. As a result, we have classified this well as a dry hole during the three months ended June 30, 2013.
	The Meneske-1 well was spud in November 2011, and we had capitalized $1.9 million of exploratory well costs for this well as of June 30, 2013. After further review, based on the results of other nearby wells and the expected high tie-in costs of the Meneske-1 well, we have classified this well as a dry hole during the three months ended June 30, 2013.
	The Suleymaniye-2 well was spud in December 2011, and we had capitalized $0.9 million of exploratory well costs for this well as of June 30, 2013. After being evaluated for artificial lift and based on the results of other nearby wells, we have classified this well as a dry hole during the three months ended June 30, 2013.
	During the three months ended September 30, 2013, we recorded $0.7 million of dry-hole costs primarily relating to two wells drilled in the third quarter.
	Of the $11.8 million of dry-hole costs expensed during the nine months ended September 30, 2013, approximately $4.7 million was related to cash spent during 2013.
	Impairment and abandonment
	During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, we recorded $1.5 million and $6.2 million, respectively, in impairment and abandonment charges on our proved and unproved properties, primarily related to our Malkara license. We recorded $1.5 million in impairment charges on our proved properties during the nine months ended September 30, 2012, primarily due to downward revisions in natural gas reserves in our Alpullu field.
	Equipment and other property
	The historical cost of equipment and other property, presented on a gross basis with accumulated depreciation, is summarized as follows:
		September 30, 2013			December 31, 2012
		(in thousands)
	Other equipment	$	2,506		$	2,013
	Inventory		26,842			20,517
	Gas gathering system and facilities		4,706			5,369
	Vehicles		232			131
	Leasehold improvements, office equipment and software		7,943			7,717
	Gross equipment and other property		42,229			35,747
	Accumulated depreciation		(6,987	)		(5,932	)
	Net equipment and other property	$	35,242		$	29,815
	We classify our materials and supply inventory, including steel tubing and casing, as long-term assets because such materials will ultimately be classified as long-term assets when the material is used in the drilling of a well.
	At September 30, 2013, we excluded $26.8 million of inventory and $0.6 million of software from depreciation, as the inventory and software had not been placed into service. At December 31, 2012, we excluded $20.5 million of inventory from depreciation, as the inventory had not been placed into service.

Commodity_derivative_instrumen

Commodity derivative instruments	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Derivative Instruments And Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]	'
Commodity derivative instruments	'
	5. Commodity derivative instruments
	We use collar derivative contracts to economically hedge against the variability in cash flows associated with the forecasted sale of our future oil production. We have not designated the derivative financial instruments as hedges for accounting purposes and, accordingly, we record the contracts at fair value and recognize changes in fair value in earnings as they occur.
	To the extent that a legal right of offset exists, we net the value of our derivative instruments with the same counterparty in our consolidated balance sheets. All of our oil derivative contracts are settled based upon Brent crude oil pricing. We recognize unrealized and realized gains and losses related to these contracts on a fair value basis in our consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) under the caption “Gain (loss) on commodity derivative contracts.” Settlements of derivative contracts are included in operating activities on our consolidated statements of cash flows. We are required under our amended and restated senior secured credit facility (as amended, the “Amended and Restated Credit Facility”) with Standard Bank Plc (“Standard Bank”) and BNP Paribas (Suisse) SA (“BNP Paribas”) to hedge between 30% and 75% of our anticipated production volumes in Turkey.
	For the three months ended September 30, 2013, we recorded a net loss on commodity derivative contracts of approximately $3.1 million, consisting of a $2.2 million unrealized loss related to changes in fair value and a $0.9 million realized loss for settled contracts. For the nine months ended September 30, 2013, we recorded a net gain on commodity derivative contracts of $0.4 million, consisting of a $3.0 million unrealized gain related to changes in fair value and a $2.6 million realized loss for settled contracts.
	For the three months ended September 30, 2012, we recorded a net loss on commodity derivative contracts of approximately $7.1 million, consisting of a $6.3 million unrealized loss related to changes in fair value and a $0.8 million realized loss for settled contracts. For the nine months ended September 30, 2012, we recorded a net loss on commodity derivative contracts of $5.3 million, consisting of a $2.2 million unrealized loss related to changes in fair value and a $3.1 million realized loss for settled contracts.
	At September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012, we had outstanding contracts with respect to our future crude oil production as set forth in the tables below:
	Fair Value of Derivative Instruments as of September 30, 2013
	Type	Period		Quantity		Weighted		Weighted		Estimated Fair
				(Bbl/day)		Average		Average		Value of Liability
						Minimum		Maximum Price
						Price (per Bbl)		(per Bbl)
										(in thousands)
	Collar		October 1, 2013—December 31, 2013		717	$	81.63	$	119.8	$	(15	)
	Collar		January 1, 2014—December 31, 2014		622	$	80.83	$	118.07		(157	)
										$	(172	)
				Collars						Additional Call
	Type	Period		Quantity		Weighted		Weighted		Weighted			Estimated Fair
				(Bbl/day)		Average		Average		Average			Value of
						Minimum		Maximum		Maximum			Liability
						Price		Price		Price
						(per Bbl)		(per Bbl)		(per Bbl)
													(in thousands)
	Three-way collar contract		October 1, 2013—December 31, 2013		770	$	85	$	97.13	$	162.13		$	(790	)
	Three-way collar contract		January 1, 2014—December 31, 2014		726	$	85	$	97.13	$	162.13			(2,200	)
	Three-way collar contract		January 1, 2015—December 31, 2015		1,016	$	85	$	91.88	$	151.88			(2,607	)
													$	(5,597	)
	Fair Value of Derivative Instruments as of December 31, 2012
	Type	Period		Quantity		Weighted		Weighted		Estimated Fair
				(Bbl/day)		Average		Average		Value of Liability
						Minimum		Maximum Price
						Price (per Bbl)		(per Bbl)
										(in thousands)
	Collar		January 1, 2013—December 31, 2013		775	$	82.26	$	121.36	$	(253	)
	Collar		January 1, 2014—December 31, 2014		662	$	80.83	$	118.07		(292	)
										$	(545	)
				Collars						Additional Call
	Type	Period		Quantity		Weighted		Weighted		Weighted			Estimated Fair
				(Bbl/day)		Average		Average		Average			Value of
						Minimum		Maximum		Maximum			Liability
						Price		Price		Price
						(per Bbl)		(per Bbl)		(per Bbl)
													(in thousands)
	Three-way collar contract		January 1, 2013—December 31, 2013		831	$	85	$	97.13	$	162.13		$	(3,655	)
	Three-way collar contract		January 1, 2014—December 31, 2014		726	$	85	$	97.13	$	162.13			(2,150	)
	Three-way collar contract		January 1, 2015—December 31, 2015		1,016	$	85	$	91.88	$	151.88			(2,440	)
													$	(8,245	)

Asset_retirement_obligations

Asset retirement obligations	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Asset Retirement Obligation Disclosure [Abstract]	'
Asset retirement obligations	'
	6. Asset retirement obligations
	The following table summarizes the changes in our asset retirement obligations (“ARO”) for the nine months ended September 30, 2013 and for the year ended December 31, 2012:
		September 30, 2013			December 31, 2012
		(in thousands)
	Asset retirement obligations at beginning of period	$	11,958		$	13,534
	Change in estimates		(8	)		(3,868	)
	Liabilities settled		(132	)		(110	)
	Foreign exchange change effect		(1,438	)		793
	Additions		531			899
	Accretion expense		367			710
	Asset retirement obligations at end of period		11,278			11,958
	Less: current portion		916			818
	Long-term portion	$	10,362		$	11,140
	Our ARO is measured using primarily Level 3 inputs. The significant unobservable inputs to this fair value measurement include estimates of plugging costs, remediation costs, inflation rate and well life. The inputs are calculated based on historical data as well as current estimated costs.

Loan_payable

Loan payable	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]	'
Loan payable	'
	7. Loan payable
	As of the indicated dates, our debt consisted of the following:
		September 30, 2013		December 31, 2012
		(in thousands)
	Floating Rate Debt
	Amended and Restated Credit Facility	$	49,766	$	32,766
	Loan payable	$	49,766	$	32,766
	Amended and Restated Senior Secured Credit Facility
	On May 18, 2011, DMLP, Ltd., TransAtlantic Exploration Mediterranean International Pty Ltd (“TEMI”), Talon Exploration, Ltd., TransAtlantic Turkey, Ltd., Petrogas Petrol Gaz ve Petrokimya Ürünleri Inşaat Sanayive Ticaret A.Ş. and Amity Oil International Pty Ltd (collectively, the “Borrowers”) entered into the Amended and Restated Credit Facility. Each of the Borrowers is our wholly owned subsidiary. The Amended and Restated Credit Facility is guaranteed by us and each of TransAtlantic Petroleum (USA) Corp. and TransAtlantic Worldwide, Ltd (“TransAtlantic Worldwide”).
	Availability under the Amended and Restated Credit Facility is subject to a borrowing base. The borrowing base is re-determined quarterly on January 1st, April 1st, July 1st and October 1st of each year. As of October 1, 2013 our borrowing base was $56.5 million. Loans under the Amended and Restated Credit Facility accrue interest at a rate of three-month LIBOR plus 5.50% per annum.
	At September 30, 2013, we had borrowed $49.8 million under the Amended and Restated Credit Facility.
	TBNG credit facility
	On June 18, 2013, our wholly owned subsidiary, Thrace Basin Natural Gas (Turkiye) Corporation (“TBNG”), entered into a 78.8 million New Turkish Lira (approximately $38.7 million at September 30, 2013) unsecured line of credit with a Turkish bank, of which 60 million New Turkish Lira is available in cash for TBNG and 18.8 million New Turkish Lira is available in the form of non-cash bank guarantees and letters of credit for TBNG and several other of our wholly owned subsidiaries operating in Turkey. The interest rate will be established at the time of each borrowing, and each borrowing is expected to have a two-year term. As of September 30, 2013, there were no borrowings under this credit facility.

Contingencies_relating_to_prod

Contingencies relating to production leases and exploration permits	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]	'
Contingencies relating to production leases and exploration permits	'
	8. Contingencies relating to production leases and exploration permits
	Selmo
	We are involved in litigation with persons who claim ownership of a portion of the surface at the Selmo oil field in Turkey. These cases are being vigorously defended by TEMI and Turkish governmental authorities. We do not have enough information to estimate the potential additional operating costs or contingent liability we would incur in the event the purported surface owners’ claims are ultimately successful. Any adjustment arising out of the claims will be recorded when it becomes probable and estimable.
	Morocco
	In the second quarter of 2012, we were notified that the Moroccan government may seek to recover approximately $5.5 million in contractual obligations under our Tselfat exploration permit work program. In February 2013, the Moroccan government drew down our $1.0 million bank guarantee that was put in place to ensure our performance of the Tselfat exploration permit work program. Although we plan to pursue a settlement with the Moroccan government for a lesser amount, we recorded $5.0 million in accrued liabilities relating to our Tselfat exploration permit during the second quarter of 2012 for this contractual obligation.
	Aglen
	In the second quarter of 2012, we were notified that the Bulgarian government may seek to recover approximately $2.0 million in contractual obligations under our Aglen exploration permit work program. Due to the Bulgarian government’s January 2012 ban on fracture stimulation and related activities, a force majeure event under the terms of the exploration permit was recognized by the government. Although we invoked force majeure, we recorded $2.0 million in general and administrative expense relating to our Aglen exploration permit during the second quarter of 2012 for this contractual obligation.
	Direct Petroleum
	In July 2013, we entered into a second amendment (the “Amendment”) to our Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with Direct Petroleum Exploration, LLC, formerly Direct Petroleum Exploration, Inc. (“Direct”). Pursuant to the Amendment, we issued 3,510,743 common shares to Direct as partial payment of certain liquidated damages due under the Purchase Agreement. The number of shares was calculated by dividing $2.5 million by the volume weighted average price per share of our common shares on the NYSE MKT for the ten trading days prior to July 2, 2013.
	The parties also agreed that Direct is not eligible for any liquidated damages relating to the coring of the Etropole shale formation, which resulted in the reversal of the $5.0 million contingent liability recorded in 2011, which we recognized in our consolidated statement of comprehensive income (loss) under the caption “Revaluation of contingent consideration” during the nine months ended September 30, 2013.
	The Amendment sets forth a new obligation to drill and test the Deventci-R2 well by May 1, 2014. In the event that we do not meet the drilling and testing obligations by May 1, 2014, the Amendment requires us to issue an additional $2.5 million in common shares to Direct. As such, the $2.5 million contingent liability, recorded in 2011, remained as of September 30, 2013.
	Additionally, the Amendment provides that if the Bulgarian government issues a production concession over the Stefenetz Concession Area, Direct will be entitled to a payment of $10.0 million in common shares, or a pro rata amount if the production concession is less than 200,000 acres. We do not have enough information to estimate the potential contingent liability we would incur in the event the Bulgarian government issues a production concession over the Stefenetz Concession. Any adjustment will be recorded when it becomes probable and estimable.

Shareholders_equity

Shareholders equity	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Equity [Abstract]	'
Shareholders equity	'
	9. Shareholders’ equity
	Restricted stock units
	Share-based compensation expense of approximately $0.5 million and $1.3 million with respect to awards of restricted stock units (“RSUs”) was recorded for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, respectively. We recorded share-based compensation expense of $0.4 million and $1.5 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, respectively.
	As of September 30, 2013, we had approximately $2.1 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested RSUs, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.6 years.
	Earnings per share
	We account for earnings per share in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Subtopic 260-10, Earnings Per Share (“ASC 260-10”). ASC 260-10 requires companies to present two calculations of earnings per share: basic and diluted. Basic earnings per common share for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013 and 2012 equals net income divided by the weighted average shares outstanding during the periods. Weighted average shares outstanding are equal to the weighted average of all shares outstanding for the period, excluding RSUs. Diluted earnings per common share for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013 and 2012 are computed in the same manner as basic earnings per common share after assuming the issuance of common shares for all potentially dilutive common share equivalents, which includes stock options, RSUs and warrants, whether exercisable or not. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, there were no common shares excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share due to the September 1, 2013 expiration of warrants to acquire 7,300,000 common shares. The computation of diluted earnings per common share excluded 7,455,000 and 7,461,240 antidilutive common share equivalents from the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, respectively, primarily related to our common share purchase warrants.
	The following table presents the basic and diluted earnings per common share computations:
		Three Months Ended					Nine Months Ended
		September 30,					September 30,
	(in thousands, except per share amounts)	2013			2012		2013			2012
	Net (loss) income from continuing operations	$	(4,818	)	$	469	$	1,117		$	7,569
	Net (loss) income from discontinued operations	$	(155	)	$	6,525	$	(248	)	$	20,904
	Basic net (loss) income per common share:
	Shares:
	Weighted average common shares outstanding		371,503			367,960		369,785			366,981
	Basic net (loss) income per common share:
	Continuing operations	$	(0.01	)	$	0	$	0		$	0.02
	Discontinued operations	$	0		$	0.02	$	0		$	0.06
	Diluted net (loss) income per common share:
	Shares:
	Weighted average common shares outstanding		371,503			367,960		369,785			366,981
	Dilutive effect of:
	Restricted stock units		—			1,941		—			1,745
	Stock options		—			119		—			143
	Weighted average common and common equivalent shares outstanding		371,503			370,020		369,785			368,869
	Diluted net (loss) income per common share:
	Continuing operations	$	(0.01	)	$	0	$	0		$	0.02
	Discontinued operations	$	0		$	0.02	$	0		$	0.06
	Additionally, we had a contingent liability at September 30, 2013 of approximately $2.5 million that is payable in our common shares. At the September 30, 2013 closing price of our common shares, this liability represented 2,976,190 common shares that could be potentially dilutive to future earnings per share calculations (see Note 8).

Segment_information

Segment information	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Segment Reporting [Abstract]	'
Segment information	'
	10. Segment information
	In accordance with ASC 280, Segment Reporting (“ASC 280”), we have three reportable geographic segments: Romania, Turkey and Bulgaria. Summarized financial information from continuing operations concerning our geographic segments is shown in the following table:
			Corporate			Romania			Turkey			Bulgaria			Total
			(in thousands)
	For the three months ended September 30, 2013
	Total revenues		$	(2	)	$	—		$	33,277		$	28		$	33,303
	Loss from continuing operations before income taxes			(2,943	)		(46	)		(1,517	)		(179	)		(4,685	)
	Capital expenditures		$	—		$	—		$	33,706		$	268		$	33,974
	For the three months ended September 30, 2012
	Total revenues		$	—		$	—		$	34,767		$	48		$	34,815
	(Loss) income from continuing operations before income taxes			(2,534	)		(149	)		5,042			(178	)		2,181
	Capital expenditures		$	—		$	—		$	24,498		$	—		$	24,498
	For the nine months ended September 30, 2013
	Total revenues		$	—		$	—		$	100,454		$	124		$	100,578
	(Loss) income from continuing operations before income taxes			(9,019	)		(104	)		8,380			4,433			3,690
	Capital expenditures		$	—		$	—		$	81,282		$	268		$	81,550
	For the nine months ended September 30, 2012
	Total revenues		$	—		$	—		$	106,552		$	197		$	106,749
	(Loss) income from continuing operations before income taxes			(9,808	)		(804	)		27,301			(2,578	)		14,111
	Capital expenditures		$	—		$	—		$	71,777		$	168		$	71,945
	Segment assets
	September 30, 2013		$	13,849		$	46		$	327,069		$	6,172		$	347,136	(1)
	December 31, 2012		$	14,825		$	105		$	339,752		$	1,957		$	356,639	(1)
	Goodwill
	September 30, 2013		$	—		$	—		$	7,906		$	—		$	7,906
	December 31, 2012		$	—		$	—		$	9,021		$	—		$	9,021
	-1	Excludes assets held for sale from our discontinued Moroccan operations of $0.6 million and $1.6 million at September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012, respectively.

Financial_instruments

Financial instruments	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Fair Value Disclosures [Abstract]	'
Financial instruments	'
	11. Financial instruments
	Cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, accounts receivable, accounts payable, accrued liabilities and our loan payable were each estimated to have a fair value approximating the carrying amount at September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012 due to the short maturity of those instruments.
	Interest rate risk
	We are exposed to interest rate risk as a result of our variable rate short-term cash holdings and borrowings under the Amended and Restated Credit Facility.
	Foreign currency risk
	We have underlying foreign currency exchange rate exposure. Our currency exposures relate to transactions denominated in the Canadian Dollar, Bulgarian Lev, European Union Euro, Romanian New Leu, Moroccan Dirham and New Turkish Lira. We are also subject to foreign currency exposures resulting from translating the functional currency of our foreign subsidiary financial statements into the U.S. Dollar reporting currency. We have not used foreign currency forward contracts to manage exchange rate fluctuations. At September 30, 2013, we had 14.5 million New Turkish Lira (approximately $7.1 million) in cash and cash equivalents, which exposes us to exchange rate risk based on fluctuations in the value of the New Turkish Lira.
	Commodity price risk
	We are exposed to fluctuations in commodity prices for oil and natural gas. Commodity prices are affected by many factors, including, but not limited to, supply and demand. At September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012, we were a party to commodity derivative contracts.
	Concentration of credit risk
	The majority of our receivables are within the oil and natural gas industry, primarily from our industry partners and from government agencies. Included in receivables are amounts due from Turkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortakligi, the national oil company of Turkey, and Turkiye Petrol Rafinerileri A.Ş., a privately owned oil refinery in Turkey, which purchase the majority of our oil production. The receivables are not collateralized. To date, we have experienced minimal bad debts. The majority of our cash and cash equivalents are held by three financial institutions in the United States and Turkey.
	Fair value measurements
	The following table summarizes the valuation of our financial assets and liabilities as of September 30, 2013:
		Fair Value Measurement Classification
		Quoted Prices in		Significant Other			Significant		Total
		Active Markets for		Observable Inputs			Unobservable Inputs
		Identical Assets or		(Level 2)			(Level 3)
		Liabilities
		(Level 1)
		(in thousands)
	Liabilities:
	Derivative financial instruments (commodity)	$	—	$	(5,769	)	$	—	$	(5,769	)
	Total	$	—	$	(5,769	)	$	—	$	(5,769	)
	The following table summarizes the valuation of our financial assets and liabilities as of December 31, 2012:
		Fair Value Measurement Classification
		Quoted Prices in		Significant Other			Significant		Total
		Active Markets for		Observable Inputs			Unobservable Inputs
		Identical Assets or		(Level 2)			(Level 3)
		Liabilities
		(Level 1)
		(in thousands)
	Liabilities:
	Derivative financial instruments (commodity)	$	—	$	(8,790	)	$	—	$	(8,790	)
	Total	$	—	$	(8,790	)	$	—	$	(8,790	)
	We remeasure our derivative contracts on a recurring basis, with changes flowing through earnings. All other financial instruments are recorded at carrying value. The carrying value of these other financial instruments approximates fair value, as they are subject to short-term floating interest rates that approximate the rates available to us.

Related_party_transactions

Related party transactions	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]	'
Related party transactions	'
	12. Related party transactions
	The following table summarizes related party accounts receivable and accounts payable as of September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012:
		September 30,		December 31,
		2013		2012
		(in thousands)
	Related party accounts receivable:
	Viking International master services agreement	$	577	$	313
	Riata Management service agreement		41		—
	Dalea promissory note		—		106
	Total related party accounts receivable	$	618	$	419
	Related party accounts payable:
	Viking International master services agreement	$	20,592	$	15,467
	Viking Geophysical master services agreement		3,103		—
	Riata Management service agreement		164		167
	Total related party accounts payable	$	23,859	$	15,634
	For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013 and 2012, we incurred expenditures of $27.8 million and $65.5 million and $26.1 million and $43.9 million, respectively, related to our various related party agreements.

General_Policies

General (Policies)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Accounting Policies [Abstract]	'
Nature of operations	'
	Nature of operations
	TransAtlantic Petroleum Ltd. (together with its subsidiaries, “we,” “us,” “our,” the “Company” or “TransAtlantic”) is an international oil and natural gas company engaged in acquisition, exploration, development and production. We have focused our operations in countries that have established yet underexplored petroleum systems, have stable governments, are net importers of petroleum, have an existing petroleum transportation infrastructure and provide favorable commodity pricing, royalty rates and tax rates to exploration and production companies. We hold interests in developed and undeveloped oil and natural gas properties in Turkey and Bulgaria. As of September 30, 2013, approximately 40% of our outstanding common shares were beneficially owned by N. Malone Mitchell 3rd, our chief executive officer and chairman of our board of directors.
Basis of presentation	'
	Basis of presentation
	Our consolidated financial statements are expressed in U.S. Dollars and have been prepared by management in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”). All amounts in these notes to the consolidated financial statements are in U.S. Dollars unless otherwise indicated. We have prepared the accompanying unaudited interim consolidated financial statements pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), and in the opinion of management, such consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments necessary to present fairly the consolidated financial position of TransAtlantic at September 30, 2013 and its results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented. We have omitted certain information and disclosures normally included in annual consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP pursuant to those rules and regulations, although we believe that the disclosures we have made are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. These unaudited interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and related footnotes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012. Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation.
	In preparing the accompanying consolidated financial statements, management has made certain estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts in the consolidated financial statements and disclosures. The results of operations for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results we expect for the full year.
Reclassification	'
	Reclassification
	As reported in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, we reclassified certain amounts previously reported on our consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) to conform to current year presentation. Specifically, we reclassified the revenue and cost related to natural gas purchased from third parties. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, these reclassifications increased total revenues and costs and expenses by approximately $1.9 million and $5.5 million, respectively.
Revision of prior period financial statements	'
	Revision of prior period financial statements
	During the three months ended March 31, 2013, we identified and corrected errors previously reported on our consolidated statements of cash flows. As a result, we increased the “Exploration, abandonment and impairment” sub-caption, which is an adjustment to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities, and increased the cash used in investing activities related to “Additions to oil and natural gas properties” by $3.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2012, as we previously did not include the cash portion of additions to oil and natural gas properties in investing activities for dry-hole expenses that were recognized in the same period as the related cash disbursed. These amounts had also been excluded from the adjustment to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities.
	We assessed the materiality of the errors in accordance with the SEC guidance on considering the effects of prior period misstatements based on an analysis of quantitative and qualitative factors. Based on this analysis, we determined that the errors were immaterial to each of the prior reporting periods affected and, therefore, amendments of reports previously filed with the SEC were not required. Accordingly, we have reflected the correction of these prior period errors in the periods in which they originated and revised our consolidated statement of cash flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
New disclosures for items reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income	'
	In February 2013, the Financial Accounting Standard Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2013-02, New Disclosures for Items Reclassified Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (“ASU 2013-02”). ASU 2013-02 requires reclassification adjustments for items that are reclassified out of accumulated other comprehensive income to net income to be presented in the statements where the components of net income and the components of other comprehensive income are presented or in the footnotes to the financial statements. Additionally, the amendment requires cross-referencing to other disclosures currently required for other reclassification items. The amendments were effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2012. The adoption of ASU 2013-02 did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
Derivative instruments policy	'
	We use collar derivative contracts to economically hedge against the variability in cash flows associated with the forecasted sale of our future oil production. We have not designated the derivative financial instruments as hedges for accounting purposes and, accordingly, we record the contracts at fair value and recognize changes in fair value in earnings as they occur.
	To the extent that a legal right of offset exists, we net the value of our derivative instruments with the same counterparty in our consolidated balance sheets. All of our oil derivative contracts are settled based upon Brent crude oil pricing. We recognize unrealized and realized gains and losses related to these contracts on a fair value basis in our consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) under the caption “Gain (loss) on commodity derivative contracts.” Settlements of derivative contracts are included in operating activities on our consolidated statements of cash flows. We are required under our amended and restated senior secured credit facility (as amended, the “Amended and Restated Credit Facility”) with Standard Bank Plc (“Standard Bank”) and BNP Paribas (Suisse) SA (“BNP Paribas”) to hedge between 30% and 75% of our anticipated production volumes in Turkey.
Earnings per share	'
	Earnings per share
	We account for earnings per share in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Subtopic 260-10, Earnings Per Share (“ASC 260-10”). ASC 260-10 requires companies to present two calculations of earnings per share: basic and diluted. Basic earnings per common share for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013 and 2012 equals net income divided by the weighted average shares outstanding during the periods. Weighted average shares outstanding are equal to the weighted average of all shares outstanding for the period, excluding RSUs. Diluted earnings per common share for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013 and 2012 are computed in the same manner as basic earnings per common share after assuming the issuance of common shares for all potentially dilutive common share equivalents, which includes stock options, RSUs and warrants, whether exercisable or not. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013, there were no common shares excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share due to the September 1, 2013 expiration of warrants to acquire 7,300,000 common shares. The computation of diluted earnings per common share excluded 7,455,000 and 7,461,240 antidilutive common share equivalents from the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012, respectively, primarily related to our common share purchase warrants.

General_Tables

General (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Accounting Policies [Abstract]	'
Summary of Effect of Out-of-Period Errors on Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows	'
	The following shows the effect of the out-of-period errors on our consolidated statement of cash flows for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 (in thousands):
		As Reported			Correction			As Revised
	For the nine months ended September 30, 2012
	Operating activities:
	Exploration, abandonment and impairment	$	7,869		$	3,914		$	11,783
	Net cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations		50,655			3,914			54,569
	Net cash provided by operating activities		26,517			3,914			30,431
	Investing activities:
	Additions to oil and natural gas properties		(42,068	)		(3,914	)		(45,982	)
	Net cash used in investing activities from continuing operations		(41,460	)		(3,914	)		(45,374	)
	Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	$	114,690		$	(3,914	)	$	110,776

Discontinued_operations_Tables

Discontinued operations (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Discontinued Operations And Disposal Groups [Abstract]	'
Assets and Liabilities Held for Sale	'
	The following shows our assets and liabilities held for sale at September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012:
			September 30, 2013			December 31, 2012
			(in thousands)
	Cash		$	91		$	93
	Other assets (1)			510			1,526
	Total assets held for sale		$	601		$	1,619
	Accrued expenses and other liabilities		$	7,355		$	8,416
	Total liabilities held for sale		$	7,355		$	8,416
	-1	Other assets consist primarily of $0.5 million and $1.5 million of restricted cash at September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012, respectively.
Operating Results from Discontinued Operations	'
	Our operating results from discontinued operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2013 and 2012 are summarized as follows:
			For the Three Months Ended						For the Nine Months Ended
			September 30,						September 30,
			2013			2012			2013			2012
			(in thousands)
	Total revenues		$	—		$	—		$	—		$	20,956
	Total costs and expenses			(173	)		(223	)		(311	)		(25,074	)
	Total other income (expense)			18			345			63			(422	)
	(Loss) income from discontinued operations before income taxes			(155	)		122			(248	)		(4,540	)
	Gain on disposal of discontinued operations			—			6,437			—			33,651
	Income tax provision			—			(34	)		—			(8,207	)
	Net (loss) income from discontinued operations		$	(155	)	$	6,525		$	(248	)	$	20,904

Property_and_equipment_Tables

Property and equipment (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Property Plant And Equipment [Abstract]	'
Capitalized Costs under Successful Efforts Method for Oil and Natural Gas Properties	'
	The following table sets forth the capitalized costs under the successful efforts method for our oil and natural gas properties as of:
		September 30, 2013			December 31, 2012
		(in thousands)
	Oil and natural gas properties, proved:
	Turkey	$	252,866		$	229,462
	Bulgaria		1,204			2,036
	Total oil and natural gas properties, proved		254,070			231,498
	Oil and natural gas properties, unproved:
	Turkey		62,564			68,938
	Bulgaria		268			—
	Total oil and natural gas properties, unproved		62,832			68,938
	Gross oil and natural gas properties		316,902			300,436
	Accumulated depletion		(91,038	)		(74,099	)
	Net oil and natural gas properties	$	225,864		$	226,337
Historical Cost of Equipment and Other Property on Gross Basis with Accumulated Depreciation	'
	The historical cost of equipment and other property, presented on a gross basis with accumulated depreciation, is summarized as follows:
		September 30, 2013			December 31, 2012
		(in thousands)
	Other equipment	$	2,506		$	2,013
	Inventory		26,842			20,517
	Gas gathering system and facilities		4,706			5,369
	Vehicles		232			131
	Leasehold improvements, office equipment and software		7,943			7,717
	Gross equipment and other property		42,229			35,747
	Accumulated depreciation		(6,987	)		(5,932	)
	Net equipment and other property	$	35,242		$	29,815

Commodity_derivative_instrumen1

Commodity derivative instruments (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Derivative Instruments And Hedging Activities Disclosure [Abstract]	'
Fair Value of Derivative Instruments of Future Crude Oil Production	'
	At September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012, we had outstanding contracts with respect to our future crude oil production as set forth in the tables below:
	Fair Value of Derivative Instruments as of September 30, 2013
	Type	Period		Quantity		Weighted		Weighted		Estimated Fair
				(Bbl/day)		Average		Average		Value of Liability
						Minimum		Maximum Price
						Price (per Bbl)		(per Bbl)
										(in thousands)
	Collar		October 1, 2013—December 31, 2013		717	$	81.63	$	119.8	$	(15	)
	Collar		January 1, 2014—December 31, 2014		622	$	80.83	$	118.07		(157	)
										$	(172	)
				Collars						Additional Call
	Type	Period		Quantity		Weighted		Weighted		Weighted			Estimated Fair
				(Bbl/day)		Average		Average		Average			Value of
						Minimum		Maximum		Maximum			Liability
						Price		Price		Price
						(per Bbl)		(per Bbl)		(per Bbl)
													(in thousands)
	Three-way collar contract		October 1, 2013—December 31, 2013		770	$	85	$	97.13	$	162.13		$	(790	)
	Three-way collar contract		January 1, 2014—December 31, 2014		726	$	85	$	97.13	$	162.13			(2,200	)
	Three-way collar contract		January 1, 2015—December 31, 2015		1,016	$	85	$	91.88	$	151.88			(2,607	)
													$	(5,597	)
	Fair Value of Derivative Instruments as of December 31, 2012
	Type	Period		Quantity		Weighted		Weighted		Estimated Fair
				(Bbl/day)		Average		Average		Value of Liability
						Minimum		Maximum Price
						Price (per Bbl)		(per Bbl)
										(in thousands)
	Collar		January 1, 2013—December 31, 2013		775	$	82.26	$	121.36	$	(253	)
	Collar		January 1, 2014—December 31, 2014		662	$	80.83	$	118.07		(292	)
										$	(545	)
				Collars						Additional Call
	Type	Period		Quantity		Weighted		Weighted		Weighted			Estimated Fair
				(Bbl/day)		Average		Average		Average			Value of
						Minimum		Maximum		Maximum			Liability
						Price		Price		Price
						(per Bbl)		(per Bbl)		(per Bbl)
													(in thousands)
	Three-way collar contract		January 1, 2013—December 31, 2013		831	$	85	$	97.13	$	162.13		$	(3,655	)
	Three-way collar contract		January 1, 2014—December 31, 2014		726	$	85	$	97.13	$	162.13			(2,150	)
	Three-way collar contract		January 1, 2015—December 31, 2015		1,016	$	85	$	91.88	$	151.88			(2,440	)
													$	(8,245	)

Asset_retirement_obligations_T

Asset retirement obligations (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Asset Retirement Obligation Disclosure [Abstract]	'
Changes in Asset Retirement Obligations	'
	The following table summarizes the changes in our asset retirement obligations (“ARO”) for the nine months ended September 30, 2013 and for the year ended December 31, 2012:
		September 30, 2013			December 31, 2012
		(in thousands)
	Asset retirement obligations at beginning of period	$	11,958		$	13,534
	Change in estimates		(8	)		(3,868	)
	Liabilities settled		(132	)		(110	)
	Foreign exchange change effect		(1,438	)		793
	Additions		531			899
	Accretion expense		367			710
	Asset retirement obligations at end of period		11,278			11,958
	Less: current portion		916			818
	Long-term portion	$	10,362		$	11,140

Loan_payable_Tables

Loan payable (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]	'
Debt	'
	As of the indicated dates, our debt consisted of the following:
		September 30, 2013		December 31, 2012
		(in thousands)
	Floating Rate Debt
	Amended and Restated Credit Facility	$	49,766	$	32,766
	Loan payable	$	49,766	$	32,766

Shareholders_equity_Tables

Shareholders equity (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Equity [Abstract]	'
Basic and Diluted Earnings Per Share Computations	'
	The following table presents the basic and diluted earnings per common share computations:
		Three Months Ended					Nine Months Ended
		September 30,					September 30,
	(in thousands, except per share amounts)	2013			2012		2013			2012
	Net (loss) income from continuing operations	$	(4,818	)	$	469	$	1,117		$	7,569
	Net (loss) income from discontinued operations	$	(155	)	$	6,525	$	(248	)	$	20,904
	Basic net (loss) income per common share:
	Shares:
	Weighted average common shares outstanding		371,503			367,960		369,785			366,981
	Basic net (loss) income per common share:
	Continuing operations	$	(0.01	)	$	0	$	0		$	0.02
	Discontinued operations	$	0		$	0.02	$	0		$	0.06
	Diluted net (loss) income per common share:
	Shares:
	Weighted average common shares outstanding		371,503			367,960		369,785			366,981
	Dilutive effect of:
	Restricted stock units		—			1,941		—			1,745
	Stock options		—			119		—			143
	Weighted average common and common equivalent shares outstanding		371,503			370,020		369,785			368,869
	Diluted net (loss) income per common share:
	Continuing operations	$	(0.01	)	$	0	$	0		$	0.02
	Discontinued operations	$	0		$	0.02	$	0		$	0.06

Segment_information_Tables

Segment information (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Segment Reporting [Abstract]	'
Financial Information of Geographic Segments	'
	Summarized financial information from continuing operations concerning our geographic segments is shown in the following table:
			Corporate			Romania			Turkey			Bulgaria			Total
			(in thousands)
	For the three months ended September 30, 2013
	Total revenues		$	(2	)	$	—		$	33,277		$	28		$	33,303
	Loss from continuing operations before income taxes			(2,943	)		(46	)		(1,517	)		(179	)		(4,685	)
	Capital expenditures		$	—		$	—		$	33,706		$	268		$	33,974
	For the three months ended September 30, 2012
	Total revenues		$	—		$	—		$	34,767		$	48		$	34,815
	(Loss) income from continuing operations before income taxes			(2,534	)		(149	)		5,042			(178	)		2,181
	Capital expenditures		$	—		$	—		$	24,498		$	—		$	24,498
	For the nine months ended September 30, 2013
	Total revenues		$	—		$	—		$	100,454		$	124		$	100,578
	(Loss) income from continuing operations before income taxes			(9,019	)		(104	)		8,380			4,433			3,690
	Capital expenditures		$	—		$	—		$	81,282		$	268		$	81,550
	For the nine months ended September 30, 2012
	Total revenues		$	—		$	—		$	106,552		$	197		$	106,749
	(Loss) income from continuing operations before income taxes			(9,808	)		(804	)		27,301			(2,578	)		14,111
	Capital expenditures		$	—		$	—		$	71,777		$	168		$	71,945
	Segment assets
	September 30, 2013		$	13,849		$	46		$	327,069		$	6,172		$	347,136	(1)
	December 31, 2012		$	14,825		$	105		$	339,752		$	1,957		$	356,639	(1)
	Goodwill
	September 30, 2013		$	—		$	—		$	7,906		$	—		$	7,906
	December 31, 2012		$	—		$	—		$	9,021		$	—		$	9,021
	-1	Excludes assets held for sale from our discontinued Moroccan operations of $0.6 million and $1.6 million at September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012, respectively.

Financial_instruments_Tables

Financial instruments (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Fair Value Disclosures [Abstract]	'
Valuation of Financial Assets and Liabilities	'
	The following table summarizes the valuation of our financial assets and liabilities as of September 30, 2013:
		Fair Value Measurement Classification
		Quoted Prices in		Significant Other			Significant		Total
		Active Markets for		Observable Inputs			Unobservable Inputs
		Identical Assets or		(Level 2)			(Level 3)
		Liabilities
		(Level 1)
		(in thousands)
	Liabilities:
	Derivative financial instruments (commodity)	$	—	$	(5,769	)	$	—	$	(5,769	)
	Total	$	—	$	(5,769	)	$	—	$	(5,769	)
	The following table summarizes the valuation of our financial assets and liabilities as of December 31, 2012:
		Fair Value Measurement Classification
		Quoted Prices in		Significant Other			Significant		Total
		Active Markets for		Observable Inputs			Unobservable Inputs
		Identical Assets or		(Level 2)			(Level 3)
		Liabilities
		(Level 1)
		(in thousands)
	Liabilities:
	Derivative financial instruments (commodity)	$	—	$	(8,790	)	$	—	$	(8,790	)
	Total	$	—	$	(8,790	)	$	—	$	(8,790	)

Related_party_transactions_Tab

Related party transactions (Tables)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]	'
Related Party Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable	'
	The following table summarizes related party accounts receivable and accounts payable as of September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012:
		September 30,		December 31,
		2013		2012
		(in thousands)
	Related party accounts receivable:
	Viking International master services agreement	$	577	$	313
	Riata Management service agreement		41		—
	Dalea promissory note		—		106
	Total related party accounts receivable	$	618	$	419
	Related party accounts payable:
	Viking International master services agreement	$	20,592	$	15,467
	Viking Geophysical master services agreement		3,103		—
	Riata Management service agreement		164		167
	Total related party accounts payable	$	23,859	$	15,634

General_Additional_Information

General - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012
In Millions, unless otherwise specified		Error Correction to Statements of Cash Flows [Member]	Increase In Cost And Expenses Related To Natural Gas Purchased [Member]	Increase In Cost And Expenses Related To Natural Gas Purchased [Member]
Nature Of Business [Line Items]	'	'	'	'
Percentage of common shares owned	40.00%	'	'	'
Errors and reclassifications	'	$3.90	$1.90	$5.50

General_Summary_of_Effect_of_O

General - Summary of Effect of Out-of-Period Errors on Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows (Detail) (USD $)	9 Months Ended
In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012
Operating activities:	'	'
Exploration, abandonment and impairment	$17,992	$11,783
Net cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations	69,796	54,569
Net cash provided by operating activities	68,572	30,431
Investing activities:	'	'
Additions to oil and natural gas properties	-76,435	-45,982
Net cash used in investing activities from continuing operations	-88,167	-45,374
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	-87,151	110,776
As Reported [Member]	'	'
Operating activities:	'	'
Exploration, abandonment and impairment	'	7,869
Net cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations	'	50,655
Net cash provided by operating activities	'	26,517
Investing activities:	'	'
Additions to oil and natural gas properties	'	-42,068
Net cash used in investing activities from continuing operations	'	-41,460
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	'	114,690
Error Correction to Statements of Cash Flows [Member]	'	'
Operating activities:	'	'
Exploration, abandonment and impairment	'	3,914
Net cash provided by operating activities from continuing operations	'	3,914
Net cash provided by operating activities	'	3,914
Investing activities:	'	'
Additions to oil and natural gas properties	'	-3,914
Net cash used in investing activities from continuing operations	'	-3,914
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	'	($3,914)

Discontinued_Operations_Assets

Discontinued Operations - Assets and Liabilities Held for Sale (Detail) (USD $)	Sep. 30, 2013		Dec. 31, 2012
In Thousands, unless otherwise specified
Discontinued Operations And Disposal Groups [Abstract]	'		'
Cash	$91		$93
Other assets (1)	510	[1]	1,526	[1]
Total assets held for sale	601		1,619
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	7,355		8,416
Total liabilities held for sale	$7,355		$8,416
[1]	Other assets consist primarily of $0.5 million and $1.5 million of restricted cash at September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012, respectively.

Discontinued_Operations_Assets1

Discontinued Operations - Assets and Liabilities Held for Sale (Parenthetical) (Detail) (Other Assets [Member], USD $)	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
Other Assets [Member]	'	'
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]	'	'
Restricted Cash	$0.50	$1.50

Discontinued_Operations_Additi

Discontinued Operations - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	1 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Jun. 13, 2012
Discontinued Operations And Disposal Groups [Abstract]	'
Sale of business, aggregate sales price	$168.50
Cash received from sale of business	157
Aggregate purchase price in promissory note	$11.50
Promissory note, interest rate	3.00%

Discontinued_Operations_Operat

Discontinued Operations - Operating Results from Discontinued Operations (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012
Discontinued Operations And Disposal Groups [Abstract]	'	'	'	'
Total revenues	'	'	'	$20,956
Total costs and expenses	-173	-223	-311	-25,074
Total other income (expense)	18	345	63	-422
(Loss) income from discontinued operations before income taxes	-155	122	-248	-4,540
Gain on disposal of discontinued operations	'	6,437	'	33,651
Income tax provision	'	-34	'	-8,207
Net (loss) income from discontinued operations	($155)	$6,525	($248)	$20,904

Property_and_Equipment_Capital

Property and Equipment - Capitalized Costs under Successful Efforts Method for Oil and Natural Gas Properties (Detail) (USD $)	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
In Thousands, unless otherwise specified
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]	'	'
Oil and natural gas properties, proved	$254,070	$231,498
Oil and natural gas properties, unproved	62,832	68,938
Gross oil and natural gas properties	316,902	300,436
Accumulated depletion	-91,038	-74,099
Net oil and natural gas properties	225,864	226,337
Turkey [Member]	'	'
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]	'	'
Oil and natural gas properties, proved	252,866	229,462
Oil and natural gas properties, unproved	62,564	68,938
Bulgaria [Member]	'	'
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]	'	'
Oil and natural gas properties, proved	1,204	2,036
Oil and natural gas properties, unproved	$268	'

Property_and_Equipment_Additio

Property and Equipment - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)

3 Months Ended

9 Months Ended

12 Months Ended

9 Months Ended

3 Months Ended

9 Months Ended

In Millions, unless otherwise specified

Sep. 30, 2013

Sep. 30, 2013

Dec. 31, 2012

Sep. 30, 2012

Sep. 30, 2013

Sep. 30, 2013

Sep. 30, 2013

Jun. 30, 2013

Jun. 30, 2013

Jun. 30, 2013

Sep. 30, 2013

Dec. 31, 2012

Sep. 30, 2013

Alpullu field [Member]

Malkara license [Member]

Malkara license [Member]

Kazanci-5 well [Member]

Dry Hole [Member]

Dry Hole [Member]

Dry Hole [Member]

Inventory [Member]

Inventory [Member]

Software [Member]

Meneske-1 well [Member]

Suleymaniye-2 well [Member]

Pancarkoy -1 well [Member]

Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

Proved development wells excluded from depletion

$2.70

$2.70

$1.80

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

Acquisition costs of proved properties

'

38.7

49.5

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

Well costs and additional development costs

121.6

121.6

105.3

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

Exploratory drilling costs capitalized

37

37

'

'

'

'

2.7

1.9

0.9

4.3

'

'

'

Exploratory drilling costs

'

6.1

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

Reclassified exploratory well costs

0

16.1

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

Capitalized costs

14.8

14.8

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

Dry hole costs expensed

0.7

11.8

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

Cash spent on dry hole

'

4.7

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

Impairment charge on proved and unproved properties

'

'

'

1.5

1.5

6.2

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

Property plant and equipment excluded from depreciation

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

'

$26.80

$20.50

$0.60

Property_and_Equipment_Histori

Property and Equipment - Historical Cost of Equipment and Other Property on Gross Basis with Accumulated Depreciation (Detail) (USD $)	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
In Thousands, unless otherwise specified
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]	'	'
Gross equipment and other property	$42,229	$35,747
Accumulated depreciation	-6,987	-5,932
Net equipment and other property	35,242	29,815
Other equipment [Member]	'	'
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]	'	'
Gross equipment and other property	2,506	2,013
Inventory [Member]	'	'
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]	'	'
Gross equipment and other property	26,842	20,517
Gas gathering system and facilities [Member]	'	'
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]	'	'
Gross equipment and other property	4,706	5,369
Vehicles [Member]	'	'
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]	'	'
Gross equipment and other property	232	131
Leasehold improvements, office equipment and software [Member]	'	'
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]	'	'
Gross equipment and other property	$7,943	$7,717

Recovered_Sheet1

Commodity Derivative Instruments - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012
Derivative [Line Items]	'	'	'	'
Net gain (loss) on sale of commodity derivative contracts	($3.10)	($7.10)	$0.40	($5.30)
Unrealized gain (loss) on sale of commodity derivative contracts	-2.2	-6.3	3	-2.2
Realized gain (loss) on sale of commodity derivative contracts	($0.90)	($0.80)	($2.60)	($3.10)
Turkey [Member] | Amended and Restated Credit Facility [Member] | Minimum [Member]	'	'	'	'
Derivative [Line Items]	'	'	'	'
Percentage of hedge of anticipated production volume	30.00%	'	30.00%	'
Turkey [Member] | Amended and Restated Credit Facility [Member] | Maximum [Member]	'	'	'	'
Derivative [Line Items]	'	'	'	'
Percentage of hedge of anticipated production volume	75.00%	'	75.00%	'

Recovered_Sheet2

Commodity Derivative Instruments - Fair Value of Derivative Instruments of Future Crude Oil Production (Detail) (USD $)	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
In Thousands, unless otherwise specified
Three-way collar contract [Member]	'	'
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]	'	'
Estimated Fair Value of Liability	($5,597)	($8,245)
Collar [Member]	'	'
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]	'	'
Estimated Fair Value of Liability	-172	-545
January 1, 2013 - December 31, 2013 [Member] | Three-way collar contract [Member]	'	'
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]	'	'
Quantity (Bbl/day)	'	831
Collars Weighted Average Minimum Price (per Bbl)	'	85
Additional Call Weighted Average Maximum Price (per Bbl)	'	97.13
Estimated Fair Value of Liability	'	-3,655
January 1, 2013 - December 31, 2013 [Member] | Collar [Member]	'	'
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]	'	'
Quantity (Bbl/day)	'	775
Collars Weighted Average Minimum Price (per Bbl)	'	82.26
Additional Call Weighted Average Maximum Price (per Bbl)	'	121.36
Estimated Fair Value of Liability	'	-253
January 1, 2013 - December 31, 2013 [Member] | Additional Call | Three-way collar contract [Member]	'	'
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]	'	'
Additional Call Weighted Average Maximum Price (per Bbl)	'	162.13
January 1, 2014 - December 31, 2014 [Member] | Three-way collar contract [Member]	'	'
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]	'	'
Quantity (Bbl/day)	726	726
Collars Weighted Average Minimum Price (per Bbl)	85	85
Additional Call Weighted Average Maximum Price (per Bbl)	97.13	97.13
Estimated Fair Value of Liability	-2,200	-2,150
January 1, 2014 - December 31, 2014 [Member] | Collar [Member]	'	'
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]	'	'
Quantity (Bbl/day)	622	662
Collars Weighted Average Minimum Price (per Bbl)	80.83	80.83
Additional Call Weighted Average Maximum Price (per Bbl)	118.07	118.07
Estimated Fair Value of Liability	-157	-292
January 1, 2014 - December 31, 2014 [Member] | Additional Call | Three-way collar contract [Member]	'	'
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]	'	'
Additional Call Weighted Average Maximum Price (per Bbl)	162.13	162.13
January 1, 2015-December 31, 2015 [Member] | Three-way collar contract [Member]	'	'
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]	'	'
Quantity (Bbl/day)	1,016	1,016
Collars Weighted Average Minimum Price (per Bbl)	85	85
Additional Call Weighted Average Maximum Price (per Bbl)	91.88	91.88
Estimated Fair Value of Liability	-2,607	-2,440
January 1, 2015-December 31, 2015 [Member] | Additional Call | Three-way collar contract [Member]	'	'
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]	'	'
Additional Call Weighted Average Maximum Price (per Bbl)	151.88	151.88
October 1, 2013 - December 31, 2013 [Member] | Three-way collar contract [Member]	'	'
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]	'	'
Quantity (Bbl/day)	770	'
Collars Weighted Average Minimum Price (per Bbl)	85	'
Additional Call Weighted Average Maximum Price (per Bbl)	97.13	'
Estimated Fair Value of Liability	-790	'
October 1, 2013 - December 31, 2013 [Member] | Collar [Member]	'	'
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]	'	'
Quantity (Bbl/day)	717	'
Collars Weighted Average Minimum Price (per Bbl)	81.63	'
Additional Call Weighted Average Maximum Price (per Bbl)	119.8	'
Estimated Fair Value of Liability	($15)	'
October 1, 2013 - December 31, 2013 [Member] | Additional Call | Three-way collar contract [Member]	'	'
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]	'	'
Additional Call Weighted Average Maximum Price (per Bbl)	162.13	'

Asset_Retirement_Obligations_C

Asset Retirement Obligations - Changes in Asset Retirement Obligations (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012
Asset Retirement Obligation Disclosure [Abstract]	'	'	'	'	'
Asset retirement obligations at beginning of period	'	'	$11,958	$13,534	$13,534
Change in estimates	'	'	-8	'	-3,868
Liabilities settled	'	'	-132	'	-110
Foreign exchange change effect	'	'	-1,438	'	793
Additions	'	'	531	'	899
Accretion expense	114	164	367	579	710
Asset retirement obligations at end of period	11,278	'	11,278	'	11,958
Less: current portion	916	'	916	'	818
Long-term portion	$10,362	'	$10,362	'	$11,140

Loan_Payable_Debt_Detail

Loan Payable - Debt (Detail) (USD $)	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
In Thousands, unless otherwise specified
Debt Instrument [Line Items]	'	'
Loan payable	$49,766	$32,766
Amended and Restated Credit Facility [Member]	'	'
Debt Instrument [Line Items]	'	'
Total debt	$49,766	$32,766

Loan_Payable_Additional_Inform

Loan Payable - Additional Information (Detail)	9 Months Ended					9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 18, 2013	Jun. 18, 2013	Jun. 18, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
	USD ($)	TBNG Credit Agreement [Member]	TBNG Credit Agreement [Member]	TBNG Credit Agreement [Member]	TBNG Credit Agreement [Member]	Amended and Restated Credit Facility [Member]	Amended and Restated Credit Facility [Member]
		TRY	TRY	Cash [Member]	Letter of Credit [Member]	USD ($)	USD ($)
				TRY	Bank Guarantees [Member]
					TRY
Debt Instrument [Line Items]	'	'	'	'	'	'	'
Line of credit facility reduced maximum borrowing capacity	$56,500,000	'	'	'	'	'	'
Debt Instrument above LIBOR interest rate	'	'	'	'	'	5.50%	'
Total third-party debt	'	'	'	'	'	49,766,000	32,766,000
Line of Credit Facility, Initiation Date	'	'2013-06-18	'	'	'	'	'
Proceeds from Lines of Credit	'	38,700,000	78,800,000	60,000,000	18,800,000	'	'
Line of Credit Facility, Term	'	'2 years	'	'	'	'	'
Borrowings under credit facility	'	0	'	'	'	'	'

Recovered_Sheet3

Contingencies Relating to Production Leases and Exploration Permits - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	Jun. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]	'	'
Accrued liabilities relating to our Tselfat exploration permit	$5	'
General and administrative expense	2	'
Stefenetz Concession Area [Member] | Amendment [Member]	'	'
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]	'	'
Stock issued, non cash consideration, value	'	10
Area of land leased under the production	'	200,000
Direct Petroleum [Member] | Amendment [Member]	'	'
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]	'	'
Stock issued, non cash consideration, shares	'	3,510,743
Stock issued, non cash consideration, value	'	2.5
Direct Petroleum [Member] | Etroploe Shale [Member]	'	'
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]	'	'
Contingent liability Reversed	'	5
Direct Petroleum [Member] | Deventci-R2 [Member] | Amendment [Member]	'	'
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]	'	'
Contingent liability Reversed	'	2.5
Contingency, Purchase obligation	'	2.5
Moroccan Government [Member]	'	'
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]	'	'
Recovery of contractual obligations	5.5	'
Bank guarantee	'	1
Bulgarian Government [Member]	'	'
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]	'	'
Recovery of contractual obligations	$2	'

Shareholders_Equity_Additional

Shareholders Equity - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012
Employee Service Share-based Compensation, Allocation of Recognized Period Costs [Line Items]	'	'	'	'
Share based awards anti-dilutive	0	7,455,000	0	7,461,240
Expired common stock purchase warrants	'	'	730,000	'
Warrant expiration date	'	'	1-Sep-13	'
Contingent liability	$2.50	'	$2.50	'
Common shares potentially dilutive	'	'	2,976,190	'
Restricted stock units [Member]	'	'	'	'
Employee Service Share-based Compensation, Allocation of Recognized Period Costs [Line Items]	'	'	'	'
Share-based compensation expense	0.5	0.4	1.3	1.5
Unrecognized compensation expense	$2.10	'	$2.10	'
Unrecognized compensation expense recognition period	'	'	'1 year 7 months 6 days	'

Shareholders_Equity_Basic_and_

Shareholders Equity - Basic and Diluted Earnings Per Share Computations (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]	'	'	'	'
Net (loss) income from continuing operations	($4,818)	$469	$1,117	$7,569
Net (loss) income from discontinued operations	($155)	$6,525	($248)	$20,904
Weighted average common shares outstanding	371,503	367,960	369,785	366,981
Continuing operations	($0.01)	$0	$0	$0.02
Discontinued operations	$0	$0.02	$0	$0.06
Weighted average common shares outstanding	371,503	367,960	369,785	366,981
Weighted average common and common equivalent shares outstanding	371,503	370,020	369,785	368,869
Continuing operations	($0.01)	$0	$0	$0.02
Discontinued operations	$0	$0.02	$0	$0.06
Restricted Stock Units [Member]	'	'	'	'
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]	'	'	'	'
Weighted Average Number Diluted Shares Outstanding Adjustment	'	1,941	'	1,745
Stock Options [Member]	'	'	'	'
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]	'	'	'	'
Weighted Average Number Diluted Shares Outstanding Adjustment	'	119	'	143

Segment_Information_Financial_

Segment Information - Financial Information of Geographic Segments (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended
In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Sep. 30, 2013		Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013		Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2012
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]	'		'	'		'	'
Total revenues	$33,303		$34,815	$100,578		$106,749	'
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income taxes	-4,685		2,181	3,690		14,111	'
Capital expenditures	33,974		24,498	81,550		71,945	'
Segment assets	347,136	[1]	'	347,136	[1]	'	356,639	[1]
Goodwill	7,906		'	7,906		'	9,021
Corporate, Non-Segment [Member]	'		'	'		'	'
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]	'		'	'		'	'
Total revenues	-2		'	'		'	'
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income taxes	-2,943		-2,534	-9,019		-9,808	'
Capital expenditures	'		'	'		'	'
Segment assets	13,849		'	13,849		'	14,825
Goodwill	'		'	'		'	'
Operating Segments [Member] | Romania [Member]	'		'	'		'	'
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]	'		'	'		'	'
Total revenues	'		'	'		'	'
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income taxes	-46		-149	-104		-804	'
Capital expenditures	'		'	'		'	'
Segment assets	46		'	46		'	105
Goodwill	'		'	'		'	'
Operating Segments [Member] | Turkey [Member]	'		'	'		'	'
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]	'		'	'		'	'
Total revenues	33,277		34,767	100,454		106,552	'
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income taxes	-1,517		5,042	8,380		27,301	'
Capital expenditures	33,706		24,498	81,282		71,777	'
Segment assets	327,069		'	327,069		'	339,752
Goodwill	7,906		'	7,906		'	9,021
Operating Segments [Member] | Bulgaria [Member]	'		'	'		'	'
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]	'		'	'		'	'
Total revenues	28		48	124		197	'
(Loss) income from continuing operations before income taxes	-179		-178	4,433		-2,578	'
Capital expenditures	268		'	'		168	'
Segment assets	6,172		'	6,172		'	1,957
Goodwill	'		'	'		'	'
[1]	Excludes assets held for sale from our discontinued Moroccan operations of $0.6 million and $1.6 million at September 30, 2013 and December 31, 2012, respectively.

Segment_Information_Financial_1

Segment Information - Financial Information of Geographic Segments (Parenthetical) (Detail) (USD $)	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
In Millions, unless otherwise specified
Segment Reporting [Abstract]	'	'
Assets from discontinued operations and services	$0.60	$1.60

Financial_Instruments_Addition

Financial Instruments - Additional Information (Detail)	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013
In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	USD ($)	USD ($)	USD ($)	USD ($)	Foreign Currency Risk	Foreign Currency Risk
					USD ($)	TRY
Fair Value Disclosures [Line Items]	'	'	'	'	'	'
Foreign Currency exchange rate risk	$12,271	$14,768	$26,169	$15,116	$7,100	14,500

Financial_Instruments_Valuatio

Financial Instruments - Valuation of Financial Assets and Liabilities (Detail) (USD $)	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
In Thousands, unless otherwise specified
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]	'	'
Liabilities, fair value	($5,769)	($8,790)
Derivative Financial Instruments (commodity) [Member]	'	'
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]	'	'
Liabilities, fair value	-5,769	-8,790
Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets or Liabilities (Level 1) [Member]	'	'
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]	'	'
Liabilities, fair value	'	'
Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets or Liabilities (Level 1) [Member] | Derivative Financial Instruments (commodity) [Member]	'	'
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]	'	'
Liabilities, fair value	'	'
Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) [Member]	'	'
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]	'	'
Liabilities, fair value	-5,769	-8,790
Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) [Member] | Derivative Financial Instruments (commodity) [Member]	'	'
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]	'	'
Liabilities, fair value	-5,769	-8,790
Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) [Member]	'	'
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]	'	'
Liabilities, fair value	'	'
Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) [Member] | Derivative Financial Instruments (commodity) [Member]	'	'
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]	'	'
Liabilities, fair value	'	'

Related_Party_Transactions_Rel

Related Party Transactions - Related Party Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable (Detail) (USD $)	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
In Thousands, unless otherwise specified
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]	'	'
Total related party accounts receivable	$618	$419
Total related party accounts payable	23,859	15,634
Viking International master service agreement [Member]	'	'
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]	'	'
Total related party accounts receivable	577	313
Total related party accounts payable	20,592	15,467
Viking Geophysical master services agreement [Member]	'	'
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]	'	'
Total related party accounts payable	3,103	'
Riata Management Service Agreement [Member]	'	'
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]	'	'
Total related party accounts receivable	41	'
Total related party accounts payable	164	167
Dalea promissory note [Member]	'	'
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]	'	'
Total related party accounts receivable	'	$106

Related_Party_Transactions_Add

Related Party Transactions - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
In Millions, unless otherwise specified	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]	'	'	'	'
Capital and operating expenditures	$27.80	$26.10	$65.50	$43.90