Commitments and Contingencies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies [Text Block]

9. Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments—We have various purchase commitments for materials, supplies and services incidental to the ordinary conduct of business, generally for quantities required for our businesses and at prevailing market prices. These commitments are designed to assure sources of supply and are not expected to be in excess of normal requirements. As of June 30, 2020, we had capital expenditure commitments, which we incurred in our normal course of business, including commitments of approximately $475 million related to building our new PO/TBA plant in Houston, Texas.

Financial Assurance Instruments—We have obtained letters of credit, performance and surety bonds and have issued financial and performance guarantees to support trade payables, potential liabilities and other obligations. Considering the frequency of claims made against the financial instruments we use to support our obligations, and the magnitude of those financial instruments in light of our current financial position, management does not expect that any claims against or draws on these instruments would have a material adverse effect on our Consolidated Financial Statements. We have not experienced any unmanageable difficulty in obtaining the required financial assurance instruments for our current operations.

Environmental Remediation—Our accrued liability for future environmental remediation costs at current and former plant sites and other remediation sites totaled $129 million and $132 million as of June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively. At June 30, 2020, the accrued liabilities for individual sites range from less than $1 million to $15 million. The remediation expenditures are expected to occur over a number of years, and not concentrated in any single year. In our opinion, it is reasonably possible that losses in excess of the liabilities recorded may have been incurred. However, we cannot estimate any amount or range of such possible additional losses. New information about sites, new technology or future developments such as involvement in investigations by regulatory agencies, could require us to reassess our potential exposure related to environmental matters.

Indemnification—We are parties to various indemnification arrangements, including arrangements entered into in connection with acquisitions, divestitures and the formation and dissolution of joint ventures. Pursuant to these arrangements, we provide indemnification to and/or receive indemnification from other parties in connection with liabilities that may arise in connection with the transactions and in connection with activities prior to completion of the transactions. These indemnification arrangements typically include provisions pertaining to third-party claims relating to environmental and tax matters and various types of litigation. As of June 30, 2020, we had not accrued any significant amounts for our indemnification obligations, and we are not aware of other circumstances that would likely lead to significant future indemnification obligations. We cannot determine with certainty the potential amount of future payments under the indemnification arrangements until events arise that would trigger a liability under the arrangements.

As part of our technology licensing contracts, we give indemnifications to our licensees for liabilities arising from possible patent infringement claims with respect to certain proprietary licensed technologies. Such indemnifications have a stated maximum amount and generally cover a period of 5 to 10 years.

Legal Proceedings—We are subject to various lawsuits and claims, including but not limited to, matters involving contract disputes, environmental damages, personal injury and property damage. We vigorously defend ourselves and prosecute these matters as appropriate.

Our legal organization applies its knowledge, experience and professional judgment to the specific characteristics of our cases, employing a litigation management process to manage and monitor legal proceedings in which we are a party. Our process facilitates the early evaluation and quantification of potential exposures in individual cases. This process also enables us to track those cases that have been scheduled for trial, mediation or other resolution. We regularly assesses the adequacy of legal accruals based on our professional judgment, experience and the information available regarding our cases.

Based on a consideration of all relevant facts and circumstances, we do not believe the ultimate outcome of any currently pending lawsuit against us will have a material adverse effect upon our operations, financial condition or Consolidated Financial Statements.