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Ventures and Variable Interest Entities
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2020
Ventures and Variable Interest Entities [Abstract]  
Ventures and Variable Interest Entities Ventures and Variable Interest Entities
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 unaudited consolidated balance sheets are as follows:
As of
September 30,
2020		As of
December 31,
2019
(In $ millions)
Cash and cash equivalents29 57 
Trade receivables, net - third party and affiliates11 12 
Non-trade receivables, net7 — 
Property, plant and equipment (net of accumulated depreciation - 2020: $201; 2019: $174)
602 622 
Other assets14 9 
Intangible assets (net of accumulated amortization - 2020: $5; 2019: $4)
21 22 
Total assets(1)
684 722 
Trade payables13 24 
Other liabilities(2)
10 5 
Total debt3 4 
Deferred income taxes4 4 
Total liabilities30 37 
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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 September 30, 2020, 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
September 30,
2020		As of
December 31,
2019
(In $ millions)
Property, plant and equipment, net100 31 
Trade payables27 30 
Current installments of long-term debt18 16 
Long-term debt104 41 
Total liabilities149 87 
Maximum exposure to loss262 113 
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 16).