Ventures and Variable Interest Entities

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Ventures and Variable Interest Entities [Abstract]

Consolidated Variable Interest Entities

The Company has a joint venture, Fairway Methanol LLC ("Fairway"), with Mitsui & Co., Ltd., of Tokyo, Japan ("Mitsui"), in which the Company owns 50% of Fairway, for the production of methanol at the Company's integrated chemical plant in Clear Lake, Texas. The methanol unit utilizes natural gas in the US Gulf Coast region as a feedstock and benefits from the existing infrastructure at the Company's Clear Lake facility. Both Mitsui and the Company supply their own natural gas to Fairway in exchange for methanol tolling under a cost-plus off-take arrangement.

Fairway is a variable interest entity ("VIE") in which the Company is the primary beneficiary. Under the terms of the joint venture agreements, the Company provides site services and day-to-day operations for the methanol facility. In addition, the joint venture agreements provide that the Company indemnifies Mitsui for environmental obligations that exceed a specified threshold, as well as an equity option between the partners. Accordingly, the Company consolidates the venture and records a noncontrolling interest for the share of the venture owned by Mitsui. Fairway is included in the Company's Acetyl Chain segment.

The carrying amount of the assets and liabilities associated with Fairway included in the consolidated balance sheets are as follows:



	As of December 31,
	2019	2018
	(In $ millions)
Cash and cash equivalents	57	24
Trade receivables, net - third party and affiliates	12	11
Property, plant and equipment (net of accumulated depreciation - 2019: $174; 2018: $130)	622	659
Intangible assets (net of accumulated amortization - 2019: $4; 2018: $3)	22	23
Other assets	9	5
Total assets⁽¹⁾	722	722

Trade payables	24	16
Other liabilities⁽²⁾	5	4
Total debt	4	5
Deferred income taxes	4	3
Total liabilities	37	28

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⁽¹⁾	Joint venture assets can only be used to settle the obligations of Fairway.


⁽²⁾	Primarily represents amounts owed by Fairway to the Company for reimbursement of expenditures.

Nonconsolidated Variable Interest Entities

The Company holds variable interests in entities that supply certain raw materials and services to the Company. The variable interests primarily relate to cost-plus contractual arrangements with the suppliers and recovery of capital expenditures for certain plant assets plus a rate of return on such assets. Liabilities for such supplier recoveries of capital expenditures have been recorded as finance lease obligations. The entities are not consolidated because the Company is not the primary beneficiary of the entities as it does not have the power to direct the activities of the entities that most significantly impact the entities' economic performance. The Company's maximum exposure to loss as a result of its involvement with these VIEs as of December 31, 2019 relates primarily to the recovery of capital expenditures for certain property, plant and equipment.

The carrying amount of the assets and liabilities associated with the obligations to nonconsolidated VIEs, as well as the maximum exposure to loss relating to these nonconsolidated VIEs are as follows:



	As of December 31,
	2019	2018
	(In $ millions)
Property, plant and equipment, net	31	42

Trade payables	30	27
Current installments of long-term debt	16	14
Long-term debt	41	58
Total liabilities	87	99

Maximum exposure to loss	113	134

The difference between the total liabilities associated with obligations to nonconsolidated VIEs and the maximum exposure to loss primarily represents take-or-pay obligations for services included in the Company's unconditional purchase obligations (Note 24).