Fair Value Measurements

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Fair Value Measurements [Abstract]

FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

20. FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

General

GAAP requires that certain financial instruments, such as derivative instruments, be recognized at their fair values in our balance sheets. However, other financial instruments, such as debt obligations, are not required to be recognized at their fair values, but GAAP provides an option to elect fair value accounting for these instruments. GAAP requires the disclosure of the fair values of all financial instruments, regardless of whether they are recognized at their fair values or carrying amounts in our balance sheets. For financial instruments recognized at fair value, GAAP requires the disclosure of their fair values by type of instrument, along with other information, including changes in the fair values of certain financial instruments recognized in income or other comprehensive income, and this information is provided below under “Recurring Fair Value Measurements.” For financial instruments not recognized at fair value, the disclosure of their fair values is provided below under “Other Financial Instruments.”

Nonfinancial assets, such as property, plant and equipment, and nonfinancial liabilities are recognized at their carrying amounts in our balance sheets. GAAP does not permit nonfinancial assets and liabilities to be remeasured at their fair values. However, GAAP requires the remeasurement of such assets and liabilities to their fair values upon the occurrence of certain events, such as the impairment of property, plant and equipment. In addition, if such an event occurs, GAAP requires the disclosure of the fair value of the asset or liability along with other information, including the gain or loss recognized in income in the period the remeasurement occurred. This information is provided below under “Nonrecurring Fair Value Measurements.”

GAAP provides a framework for measuring fair value and establishes a three-level fair value hierarchy that prioritizes inputs to valuation techniques based on the degree to which objective prices in external active markets are available to measure fair value. Following is a description of each of the levels of the fair value hierarchy.

• Level 1 - Observable inputs, such as unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

• Level 2 - Inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly. These include quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets and quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active.

• Level 3 - Unobservable inputs for the asset or liability for which there is little, if any, market activity at the measurement date. Unobservable inputs reflect our own assumptions about what market participants would use to price the asset or liability. The inputs are developed based on the best information available in the circumstances, which might include occasional market quotes or sales of similar instruments or our own financial data such as internally developed pricing models, discounted cash flow methodologies, as well as instruments for which the fair value determination requires significant judgment.

The financial instruments and nonfinancial assets and liabilities included in our disclosure of recurring and nonrecurring fair value measurements are categorized according to the fair value hierarchy based on the inputs used to measure their fair values.

Recurring Fair Value Measurements

The tables below present information (in millions) about our financial instruments recognized at their fair values in our balance sheets categorized according to the fair value hierarchy of the inputs utilized by us to determine the fair values as of December 31, 2011 and 2010.

Cash collateral deposits of $136 million and $403 million with brokers under master netting arrangements are included in the fair value of the commodity derivatives reflected in Level 1 as of December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010, respectively. Certain of our commodity derivative contracts under master netting arrangements include both asset and liability positions. We have elected to offset the fair value amounts recognized for multiple similar derivative instruments executed with the same counterparty, including any related cash collateral asset or obligation under the column “Netting Adjustments” below; however, fair value amounts by hierarchy level are presented on a gross basis in the tables below.

	Fair Value Measurements Using
	Quoted  Prices in Active  Markets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)			Significant Unobservable  Inputs (Level 3)		Netting Adjustments			Total as of December 31, 2011
Assets:
Commodity derivative contracts	$	2,038	$	78		$	—	$	(1,940	)	$	176
Physical purchase contracts	—		(2		)	—		—			(2		)
Investments of certain benefit plans	84		—			11		—			95
Other investments	—		—			—		—			—
Liabilities:
Commodity derivative contracts	1,864		101			—		(1,940		)	25
Obligations of certain benefit plans	34		—			—		—			34

	Fair Value Measurements Using
	Quoted  Prices in Active  Markets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable  Inputs (Level 3)		Netting Adjustments			Total as of December 31, 2010
Assets:
Commodity derivative contracts	$	3,240	$	489	$	—	$	(3,560	)	$	169
Physical purchase contracts	—		17		—		—			17
Investments of certain benefit plans	104		—		10		—			114
Other investments	—		—		—		—			—
Liabilities:
Commodity derivative contracts	3,097		502		—		(3,560		)	39
Biofuels blending obligation	51		—		—		—			51
Obligations of certain benefit plans	36		—		—		—			36

A description of our financial instruments and the valuation methods used to measure those instruments at fair value are as follows:

• Commodity derivative contracts consist primarily of exchange-traded futures and swaps, and as disclosed in Note 21, some of these contracts are designated as hedging instruments. These contracts are measured at fair value using the market approach. Exchange-traded futures are valued based on quoted prices from the exchange and are categorized in Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy. Swaps are priced using third-party broker quotes, industry pricing services, and exchange-traded curves, with appropriate consideration of counterparty credit risk, but because they have contractual terms that are not identical to exchange-traded futures instruments with a comparable market price, these financial instruments are categorized in Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.

• Physical purchase contracts to purchase inventories represent the fair value of firm commitments to purchase crude oil feedstocks and the fair value of fixed-price corn purchase contracts, and as disclosed in Note 21, some of these contracts are designated as hedging instruments. The fair values of these firm commitments and purchase contracts are measured using a market approach based on quoted prices from the commodity exchange, but because these commitments have contractual terms that are not identical to exchange-traded futures instruments with a comparable market price, they are categorized in Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.

• Investments of certain benefit plan assets consist of investment securities held by trusts for the purpose of satisfying a portion of our obligations under certain U.S. nonqualified benefit plans. The assets categorized in Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy are measured at fair value using a market approach based on quotations from national securities exchanges. The assets categorized in Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy represent insurance contracts, the fair value of which is provided by the insurer. Obligations of certain benefit plans relate to certain U.S. nonqualified defined contribution plans under which our obligations to eligible employees are equal to the fair value of the assets held by those plans.

• Other investments consist of (i) equity securities of private companies over which we do not exercise significant influence nor whose financial statements are consolidated into our financial statements and (ii) debt securities of a private company whose financial statements are not consolidated into our financial statements. We have elected to account for these investments at their fair values. These investments are categorized in Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy as the fair values of these investments are determined using the income approach based on internally developed analyses.

• Our biofuels blending obligation represents a liability for the purchase of RINs and RTFCs, as defined and described in Note 21 under “Compliance Program Price Risk,” to satisfy our obligation to blend biofuels into the products we produce. Our obligation is based on our deficiency in RINs and RTFCs and the price of these instruments as of the balance sheet date. Our obligation is categorized in Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy and is measured at fair value using the market approach based on quoted prices from an independent pricing service.

The following is a reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances (in millions) for fair value measurements developed using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3).

	Investments of Certain Benefit Plans						Other Investments								Earn-Out Agreement
	2011		2010		2009		2011			2010			2009		2011		2010		2009
Balance as of beginning of year	$	10	$	10	$	—	$	—		$	—		$	—	$	—	$	—	$	13
Purchases	1		—		—		21			1			—		—		—		—
Settlements	—		—		—		—			—			—		—		—		(33		)
Total losses included in income	—		—		—		(21		)	(1		)	—		—		—		20
Transfers in and/or out of Level 3	—		—		10		—			—			—		—		—		—
Balance as of end of year	$	11	$	10	$	10	$	—		$	—		$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—
The amount of total losses included in income attributable to the change in unrealized losses relating to assets still held at end of period	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	(21	)	$	(1	)	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—

For the year ended December 31, 2009, the amount reflected in “total losses included in income” in the table above related to the earn-out agreement are reported in “other income, net.” We entered into an earn-out agreement with Alon Refining Krotz Springs, Inc. in connection with the sale of our Krotz Springs Refinery in 2008. We also entered into commodity derivative instruments to hedge the risk of changes in the fair value of the earn-out agreement. The gains (losses) associated with these instruments are also reported in “other income, net.”

Nonrecurring Fair Value Measurements

As of December 31, 2011 and 2010, there were no assets or liabilities that were measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis.

Other Financial Instruments

Financial instruments that we recognize in our balance sheets at their carrying amounts include cash and temporary cash investments, receivables, payables, debt and capital lease obligations. The fair values of these financial instruments approximate their carrying amounts, except for debt as shown in the table below (in millions):

	December 31,
	2011		2010
Carrying amount	$	7,690	$	8,300
Fair value	9,298		9,492

The fair value of our debt is determined using the market approach based on quoted prices in active markets (Level 1).