Basis of Presentation

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Disclosure Text Block [Abstract]

Basis of Presentation [Text Block]

1. Basis of Presentation

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. is a limited liability company (Naamloze Vennootschap) incorporated under Dutch law by deed of incorporation dated October 15, 2009. Unless otherwise indicated, the “Company,” “we,” “us,” “our” or similar words are used to refer to LyondellBasell Industries N.V. together with its consolidated subsidiaries (“LyondellBasell N.V.”).

LyondellBasell N.V. is a worldwide manufacturer of chemicals and polymers, a refiner of crude oil, a significant producer of gasoline blending components and a developer and licensor of technologies for the production of polymers.

The accompanying unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared from the books and records of LyondellBasell N.V. in accordance with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X for interim financial information. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and notes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”) for complete financial statements. In our opinion, all adjustments, including normal recurring adjustments, considered necessary for a fair statement have been included. The results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results for the entire year. These Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019.

Events surrounding the ongoing novel strain of coronavirus, causing a pandemic referred to as COVID-19, and the significant drop in the price of oil continue to evolve and impact global markets for our products. During the first quarter of 2020, we recognized a lower of cost or market (“LCM”) inventory valuation charge of $419 million, see Note 5 to our Consolidated Financial Statements. Further, we assessed accounting matters that generally require consideration of forecasted financial information based on the information reasonably available to us and the uncertain future impacts of COVID-19 and volatility in commodity prices. Accounting matters assessed included, but were not limited to, the carrying value of our goodwill and other long-lived assets, inventory, valuation allowances for tax assets and expected credit losses. Other than the inventory valuation charges noted above, there were no other impacts to our consolidated financial statements for the first quarter of 2020 resulting from our assessments. We will continue to assess the potential financial statement impacts of COVID-19 and commodity price volatility throughout the duration of the pandemic in accordance with our corporate accounting policies. The extent of the impact of the pandemic and the decline in commodity prices on our operational and financial performance will depend on future developments which are uncertain and cannot be predicted. An extended period of economic disruption could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, access to sources of liquidity and financial condition.