Price Risk Management Activities

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Price Risk Management Activities [Abstract]

PRICE RISK MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

21. PRICE RISK MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

We are exposed to market risks related to the volatility in the price of commodities, the price of financial instruments associated with governmental and regulatory compliance programs, interest rates, and foreign currency exchange rates, and we enter into derivative instruments to manage some of these risks. We also enter into derivative instruments to manage the price risk on other contractual derivatives into which we have entered. The only types of derivative instruments we enter into are those related to the various commodities we purchase or produce, financial instruments we must purchase to maintain compliance with various governmental and regulatory programs, interest rate swaps, and foreign currency exchange and purchase contracts, as described below. All derivative instruments are recorded as either assets or liabilities measured at their fair values (see Note 20).

When we enter into a derivative instrument, it is designated as a fair value hedge, a cash flow hedge, an economic hedge, or a trading derivative. The gain or loss on a derivative instrument designated and qualifying as a fair value hedge, as well as the offsetting loss or gain on the hedged item attributable to the hedged risk, is recognized currently in income in the same period. The effective portion of the gain or loss on a derivative instrument designated and qualifying as a cash flow hedge is initially reported as a component of other comprehensive income and is then recorded in income in the period or periods during which the hedged forecasted transaction affects income. The ineffective portion of the gain or loss on the cash flow derivative instrument, if any, is recognized in income as incurred. For our economic hedges (derivative instruments not designated as fair value or cash flow hedges) and for derivative instruments entered into by us for trading purposes, the derivative instrument is recorded at fair value and changes in the fair value of the derivative instrument are recognized currently in income. The cash flow effects of all of our derivative instruments are reflected in operating activities in our statements of cash flows for all periods presented.

Commodity Price Risk

We are exposed to market risks related to the volatility in the price of crude oil, refined products (primarily gasoline and distillate), grain (primarily corn), and natural gas used in our operations. To reduce the impact of price volatility on our results of operations and cash flows, we use commodity derivative instruments, including futures, swaps, and options. We use the futures markets for the available liquidity, which provides greater flexibility in transacting our hedging and trading operations. We use swaps primarily to manage our price exposure. Our positions in commodity derivative instruments are monitored and managed on a daily basis by a risk control group to ensure compliance with our stated risk management policy that has been approved by our board of directors.

For risk management purposes, we use fair value hedges, cash flow hedges, and economic hedges. In addition to the use of derivative instruments to manage commodity price risk, we also enter into certain commodity derivative instruments for trading purposes. Our objective for entering into each type of hedge or trading derivative is described below.

Fair Value Hedges

Fair value hedges are used to hedge price volatility in certain refining inventories and firm commitments to purchase inventories. The level of activity for our fair value hedges is based on the level of our operating inventories, and generally represents the amount by which our inventories differ from our previous year-end LIFO inventory levels.

As of December 31, 2011, we had the following outstanding commodity derivative instruments that were entered into to hedge crude oil and refined product inventories and commodity derivative instruments related to the physical purchase of crude oil and refined products at a fixed price. The information presents the notional volume of outstanding contracts by type of instrument and year of maturity (volumes in thousands of barrels).

	Notional Contract Volumes by Year of Maturity
Derivative Instrument	2012
Crude oil and refined products:
Futures – long	15,398
Futures – short	35,708
Physical contracts – long	20,310

Cash Flow Hedges

Cash flow hedges are used to hedge price volatility in certain forecasted feedstock and refined product purchases, refined product sales, and natural gas purchases. The objective of our cash flow hedges is to lock in the price of forecasted feedstock, product or natural gas purchases or refined product sales at existing market prices that we deem favorable.

As of December 31, 2011, we had the following outstanding commodity derivative instruments that were entered into to hedge forecasted purchases or sales of crude oil and refined products. The information presents the notional volume of outstanding contracts by type of instrument and year of maturity (volumes in thousands of barrels).

	Notional Contract Volumes by Year of Maturity
Derivative Instrument	2012
Crude oil and refined products:
Swaps – long	5,961
Swaps – short	5,961
Futures – long	38,201
Futures – short	36,637
Physical contracts – short	1,564

Economic Hedges

Economic hedges represent commodity derivative instruments that are not designated as fair value or cash flow hedges and are used to manage price volatility in certain (i) refinery feedstock, refined product, and corn inventories, (ii) forecasted refinery feedstock, refined product, and corn purchases, and refined product sales, and (iii) fixed-price corn purchase contracts. Our objective for entering into economic hedges is consistent with the objectives discussed above for fair value hedges and cash flow hedges. However, the economic hedges are not designated as a fair value hedge or a cash flow hedge for accounting purposes, usually due to the difficulty of establishing the required documentation at the date that the derivative instrument is entered into that would allow us to achieve “hedge deferral accounting.”

As of December 31, 2011, we had the following outstanding commodity derivative instruments that were entered into as economic hedges and commodity derivative instruments related to the physical purchase of corn at a fixed price. The information presents the notional volume of outstanding contracts by type of instrument and year of maturity (volumes in thousands of barrels, except those identified as corn contracts that are presented in thousands of bushels).

	Notional Contract Volumes by Year of Maturity
Derivative Instrument	2012	2013
Crude oil and refined products:
Swaps – long	67,862	—
Swaps – short	67,040	—
Futures – long	70,211	—
Futures – short	65,339	—
Options – long	10	—
Corn:
Futures – long	18,530	—
Futures – short	49,565	780
Physical contracts – long	20,377	833

Trading Derivatives

Our objective for entering into commodity derivative instruments for trading purposes is to take advantage of existing market conditions related to future results of operations and cash flows.

As of December 31, 2011, we had the following outstanding commodity derivative instruments that were entered into for trading purposes. The information presents the notional volume of outstanding contracts by type of instrument and year of maturity (volumes represent thousands of barrels, except those identified as natural gas contracts that are presented in billions of British thermal units and corn contracts that are presented in thousands of bushels).

	Notional Contract Volumes by Year of Maturity
Derivative Instrument	2012	2013
Crude oil and refined products:
Swaps – long	15,128	2,000
Swaps – short	14,968	2,000
Futures – long	50,126	825
Futures – short	50,133	825
Options – long	300	—
Options – short	600	—
Natural gas:
Futures – long	400	—
Futures – short	400	—
Options – long	2,000	—
Corn:
Swaps – long	1,050	—
Swaps – short	3,355	—
Futures – long	2,510	—
Futures – short	2,310	—

Compliance Program Price Risk

We are exposed to market risks related to the volatility in the price of financial instruments associated with various governmental and regulatory compliance programs that we must purchase in the open market to comply with these programs. These programs are described below.

Obligation to Blend Biofuels

We are obligated to blend biofuels into the products we produce in most of the countries in which we operate, and those countries set annual quotas for the percentage of biofuels that must be blended into the motor fuels consumed in these countries. As a producer of motor fuels from petroleum, we are obligated to blend biofuels into the products we produce at a rate that is at least equal to the applicable quota. To the degree we are unable to blend at the applicable rate in the U.S. and the U.K., we must purchase Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) in the U.S. and Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation certificates (RTFCs) in the U.K., and as such, we are exposed to the volatility in the market price of these financial instruments. We have not entered into derivative instruments to manage this risk, but we purchase RINs and RTFCs when the price of these instruments is deemed favorable. For the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010, and 2009, the cost of meeting our obligations under these compliance programs was $231 million, $66 million, and $96 million, respectively, and these amounts are reflected in cost of sales.

Maintaining Minimum Inventory Quantities

In the U.K., we are required to maintain a minimum quantity of refined products as a reserve against shortages or interruptions in the supply of these products. To the degree we decide not to physically hold the minimum quantity of these products, we must purchase Compulsory Stock Obligation (CSO) tickets from other suppliers of refined products in the U.K. or other European Union (EU) member countries, and we make economic decisions as to the cost of maintaining certain quantities of refined products versus the cost of purchasing CSO tickets. We have not entered into derivative instruments to manage the price volatility of CSO tickets. For the year ended December 31, 2011, the cost of purchasing CSO tickets to help meet our obligations under this compliance program was $4 million, and this amount was reflected in cost of sales. We had no obligations under this compliance program prior to completing the Pembroke Acquisition in 2011.

Emission Allowances

Our Pembroke Refinery is subject to a maximum amount of carbon dioxide that it can emit each year under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. Under this cap-and-trade program, we purchase emission allowances on the open market for the difference between the amount of carbon dioxide emitted and the maximum amount allowed under the program. Therefore, we are exposed to the volatility in the market price of these allowances. For the year ended December 31, 2011, the cost of meeting our obligation under this compliance program was $2 million, and this amount is reflected in refining operating expenses. We had no obligations under this compliance program prior to completing the Pembroke Acquisition in 2011.

We enter into derivative instruments (futures) to reduce the impact of this risk on our results of operations and cash flows. Our positions in these derivative instruments are monitored and managed on a daily basis by a risk control group to ensure compliance with our stated risk management policy that has been approved by our board of directors. As of December 31, 2011, we had purchased futures contracts – long for 68,000 metric tons of EU emission allowances that were entered into as economic hedges. As of December 31, 2011, the fair value of these futures contracts was immaterial and therefore not separately presented in the table below under “Fair Values of Derivative Instruments.” For the year ended December 31, 2011, the loss recognized in income on these derivative instruments designated as economic hedges was also immaterial and therefore not separately presented in the table below under “Effect of Derivative Instruments on Statements of Income and Other Comprehensive Income.”

Interest Rate Risk

Our primary market risk exposure for changes in interest rates relates to our debt obligations. We manage our exposure to changing interest rates through the use of a combination of fixed-rate and floating-rate debt. In addition, at times we have used interest rate swap agreements to manage our fixed to floating interest rate position by converting certain fixed-rate debt to floating-rate debt.

Foreign Currency Risk

We are exposed to exchange rate fluctuations on transactions entered into by our international operations that are denominated in currencies other than the local (functional) currencies of these operations. To manage our exposure to these exchange rate fluctuations, we use foreign currency exchange and purchase contracts. These contracts are not designated as hedging instruments for accounting purposes, and therefore they are classified as economic hedges. As of December 31, 2011, we had commitments to purchase $751 million of U.S. dollars. These commitments matured on or before January 26, 2012.

Fair Values of Derivative Instruments

The following tables provide information about the fair values of our derivative instruments as of December 31, 2011 and 2010 (in millions) and the line items in the balance sheets in which the fair values are reflected. See Note 20 for additional information related to the fair values of our derivative instruments.

As indicated in Note 20, we net fair value amounts recognized for multiple similar derivative instruments executed with the same counterparty under master netting arrangements. The tables below, however, are presented on a gross asset and gross liability basis, which results in the reflection of certain assets in liability accounts and certain liabilities in asset accounts. In addition, in Note 20, we included cash collateral on deposit with or received from brokers in the fair value of the commodity derivatives; these cash amounts are not reflected in the tables below.

	Balance Sheet Location	December 31, 2011
		Asset Derivatives		Liability Derivatives
Derivatives designated as hedging instruments
Commodity contracts:
Futures	Receivables, net	$	264	$	240
Swaps	Accrued expenses	36		46
Total		$	300	$	286
Derivatives not designated as hedging instruments
Commodity contracts:
Futures	Receivables, net	$	1,636	$	1,624
Swaps	Prepaid expenses and other	4		2
Swaps	Accrued expenses	38		51
Options	Receivables, net	2		—
Options	Accrued expenses	—		2
Physical purchase contracts	Inventories	—		2
Total		$	1,680	$	1,681
Total derivatives		$	1,980	$	1,967

	Balance Sheet Location	December 31, 2010
		Asset Derivatives		Liability Derivatives
Derivatives designated as hedging instruments
Commodity contracts:
Futures	Receivables, net	$	120	$	183
Swaps	Prepaid expenses and other	55		39
Swaps	Accrued expenses	31		32
Total		$	206	$	254
Derivatives not designated as hedging instruments
Commodity contracts:
Futures	Receivables, net	$	2,717	$	2,914
Swaps	Prepaid expenses and other	287		277
Swaps	Accrued expenses	116		148
Options	Accrued expenses	—		6
Physical purchase contracts	Inventories	17		—
Total		$	3,137	$	3,345
Total derivatives		$	3,343	$	3,599

Market and Counterparty Risk

Our price risk management activities involve the receipt or payment of fixed price commitments into the future. These transactions give rise to market risk, which is the risk that future changes in market conditions may make an instrument less valuable. We closely monitor and manage our exposure to market risk on a daily basis in accordance with policies approved by our board of directors. Market risks are monitored by a risk control group to ensure compliance with our stated risk management policy. Concentrations of customers in the refining industry may impact our overall exposure to counterparty risk because these customers may be similarly affected by changes in economic or other conditions. In addition, financial services companies are the counterparties in certain of our price risk management activities, and such financial services companies may be adversely affected by periods of uncertainty and illiquidity in the credit and capital markets.

As of December 31, 2011, we had net receivables related to derivative instruments of $2 million from counterparties in the refining industry and no amounts from counterparties in the financial services industry. As of December 31, 2010, we had net receivables related to derivative instruments of $4 million from counterparties in the refining industry and $21 million from counterparties in the financial services industry. These amounts represent the aggregate amount payable to us by companies in those industries, reduced by payables from us to those companies under master netting arrangements that allow for the setoff of amounts receivable from and payable to the same party. We do not require any collateral or other security to support derivative instruments into which we enter. We also do not have any derivative instruments that require us to maintain a minimum investment-grade credit rating.

Effect of Derivative Instruments on Statements of Income and Other Comprehensive Income

The following tables provide information about the gain or loss recognized in income and other comprehensive income on our derivative instruments and the line items in the financial statements in which such gains and losses are reflected (in millions).

Derivatives in Fair Value Hedging Relationships	Location of Gain (Loss) Recognized in Income on Derivatives	Year Ended December 31,
		2011			2010			2009
Commodity contracts:
Gain (loss) recognized in   income on derivatives	Cost of sales	$	(6	)	$	45		$	(75	)
Gain (loss) recognized in   income on hedged item	Cost of sales	(23		)	(40		)	69
Gain (loss) recognized in   income on derivatives   (ineffective portion)	Cost of sales	(29		)	5			(6		)

For fair value hedges, no component of the derivative instruments’ gains or losses was excluded from the assessment of hedge effectiveness for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010, and 2009. No amounts were recognized in income for hedged firm commitments that no longer qualify as fair value hedges for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010, and 2009.

Derivatives in Cash Flow Hedging Relationships	Location of Gain (Loss) Recognized in Income on Derivatives	Year Ended December 31,
		2011		2010			2009
Commodity contracts:
Gain (loss) recognized in OCI on derivatives (effective portion)		$	32	$	(2	)	$	125
Gain (loss) reclassified from accumulated OCI into income (effective portion)	Cost of sales	3		178			337
	Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes	—		—			(132		)
Gain (loss) recognized in income on derivatives (ineffective portion)	Cost of sales	5		—			3

For cash flow hedges, no component of the derivative instruments’ gains or losses was excluded from the assessment of hedge effectiveness for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010, and 2009. For the year ended December 31, 2011, cash flow hedges primarily related to forward sales of distillates and associated forward purchases of crude oil, with $19 million of cumulative after-tax gains on cash flow hedges remaining in accumulated other comprehensive income. We estimate that $19 million of the deferred gains as of December 31, 2011 will be reclassified into cost of sales over the next 12 months as a result of hedged transactions that are forecasted to occur. For the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010, there were no amounts reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income into income as a result of the discontinuance of cash flow hedge accounting. For the year ended December 31, 2009, there were $132 million of pre-tax losses reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income into income as a result of the discontinuance of cash flow hedge accounting. This amount, which is the amount classified as a loss from discontinued operations in the table, relates to the forecasted sales of distillates that did not occur due to the shutdown of the Delaware City Refinery.

Derivatives Designated as Economic Hedges and Other Derivative Instruments	Location of Gain Recognized in Income on Derivatives	Year Ended December 31,
		2011			2010			2009
Commodity contracts	Cost of sales	$	(349	)	$	(210	)	$	55
Foreign currency contracts	Cost of sales	18			(24		)	(22		)
Other contract	Cost of sales	29			—			—
		(302		)	(234		)	33
Alon earn-out agreement	Other income, net	—			—			20
Alon earn-out hedge commodity contracts	Other income, net	—			—			(62		)
		—			—			(42		)
Total		$	(302	)	$	(234	)	$	(9	)

The gain of $29 million on the other contract for the year ended December 31, 2011 is related to the difference between the fair value of inventories acquired in connection with the Pembroke Acquisition and the amount paid for such inventories based on the terms of the purchase agreement. The loss of $349 million on commodity contracts for the year ended December 31, 2011 includes a $542 million loss related to forward sales of refined products.

Trading Derivatives	Location of Gain (Loss) Recognized in Income on Derivatives	Year Ended December 31,
		2011		2010		2009
Commodity contracts	Cost of sales	$	23	$	8	$	126