Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

General - Additional Information (Detail)

v2.4.1.9
General - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
country
Mar. 31, 2014
Dec. 31, 2014
country
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]      
Number of Countries in Which Entity Has Operated Since Inception 50pkd_NumberOfCountriesInWhichEntityHasOperatedSinceInception    
Number of countries in which entity operates     23us-gaap_NumberOfCountriesInWhichEntityOperates
Payments to Acquire Property, Plant, and Equipment $ 33,455,000us-gaap_PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment $ 37,445,000us-gaap_PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment  
Percentage accounted for under the equity method 50.00%us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentOwnershipPercentage    
Reimbursable Costs 19,700,000us-gaap_CostOfReimbursableExpense 16,400,000us-gaap_CostOfReimbursableExpense  
Deposits in domestic bank 47,100,000us-gaap_CashUninsuredAmount   59,300,000us-gaap_CashUninsuredAmount
Deposits, Foreign $ 66,100,000us-gaap_DepositsForeign   $ 54,400,000us-gaap_DepositsForeign
Exxon Neftegas Limited [Member]      
Revenue, Major Customer [Line Items]      
Percentage of revenue from major customer 22.90%us-gaap_ConcentrationRiskPercentage1
/ us-gaap_MajorCustomersAxis
= pkd_ExxonNeftegasLimitedMember
17.10%us-gaap_ConcentrationRiskPercentage1
/ us-gaap_MajorCustomersAxis
= pkd_ExxonNeftegasLimitedMember