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Employee Benefit Plans (Tables)
 12 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2019
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
Summary of the Components of Benefit Costs (Income)
The following table summarizes the components of pension and other postretirement plans net periodic benefit costs / income and the assumptions used in this determination for the years ended September 30:

(In millions)Pension benefitsOther postretirement benefits
201920182017201920182017
Net periodic benefit costs (income)
Service cost$2  $2  $2  $—  $—  $—  
Interest cost81  75  86  2  2  1  
Expected return on plan assets(80) (103) (145) —  —  —  
Amortization of prior service credit (a)
—  —  —  (12) (12) (12) 
Actuarial loss (gain)61  38  (63) 8  —  (5) 
Net periodic benefit costs (income)$64  $12  $(120) $(2) $(10) $(16) 
Weighted-average plan assumptions (b)
Discount rate for service cost
2.92 %2.94 %2.15 %3.98 %4.05 %2.95 %
Discount rate for interest cost
4.00 %3.23 %2.84 %3.83 %3.11 %2.64 %
Rate of compensation increase3.06 %3.05 %2.99 %—  —  —  
Expected long-term rate of return on plan assets4.66 %5.17 %6.56 %—  —  —  
(a)Other postretirement plan amendments noted above resulted in negative plan amendments that are amortized within this caption during all periods presented.
(b)The plan assumptions are a blended weighted-average rate for Valvoline’s U.S. and non-U.S. plans. The U.S. pension plans represented approximately 97% of the total pension projected benefit obligation as of September 30, 2019. Other postretirement benefit plans consist of U.S. and Canada, with the U.S. plan representing approximately 77% of the total other postretirement projected benefit obligation as of September 30, 2019. Non-U.S. plans use assumptions generally consistent with those of U.S. plans.
Schedule of Amortization of Prior Service Cost (Credit) Recognized in AOCI
The following table summarizes the net periodic benefit costs / income and the amortization of prior service credit recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income during the years ended September 30:

Pension benefitsOther postretirement benefits
(In millions)2019201820192018
Amortization of prior service credit recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income$—  $—  $12  $12  
Net periodic benefit costs (income)64  12  (2) (10) 
Total amount recognized in net periodic benefit costs and accumulated other comprehensive income$64  $12  $10  $2  
Schedule of Changes in Projected Benefit Obligations
The following table summarizes the changes in benefit obligations and the fair value of plan assets, as well as key assumptions used to determine the benefit obligations, and the amounts recognized in the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of September 30, 2019 and 2018 for the Company’s pension and other postretirement benefit plans:

(In millions)Pension benefitsOther postretirement benefits
2019201820192018
Change in benefit obligations
Benefit obligations as of October 1$2,087  $2,381  $51  $57  
Service cost2  2  —  —  
Interest cost81  75  2  2  
Benefits paid(140) (146) (6) (7) 
Actuarial loss (gain)253  (95) 8  —  
Currency exchange rate changes(2) (3) —  (1) 
Transfers in 6  9  —  —  
Settlements—  (136) —  —  
Benefit obligations as of September 30$2,287  $2,087  $55  $51  
Change in plan assets
Fair value of plan assets as of October 1$1,792  $2,081  $—  $—  
Actual return on plan assets273  (30) —  —  
Employer contributions14  16  6  7  
Benefits paid(140) (146) (6) (7) 
Currency exchange rate changes(2) (3) —  —  
Settlements—  (136) —  —  
Transfers in6  10  —  —  
Fair value of plan assets as of September 30$1,943  $1,792  $—  $—  
Unfunded status of the plans as of September 30$344  $295  $55  $51  
Amounts recognized in the Consolidated Balance Sheets
Current benefit liabilities$9  $10  $6  $6  
Noncurrent benefit liabilities335  285  49  45  
Net amount recognized$344  $295  $55  $51  
Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)
Prior service cost (credit)$1  $2  $(45) $(56) 
Weighted-average plan assumptions
Discount rate3.10 %4.28 %2.95 %4.08 %
Rate of compensation increase3.06 %3.10 %—  —  
Schedule of Pension Plans with a Benefit Obligation in Excess of Plan Assets Information for pension plans with a benefit obligation in excess of the fair value of plan assets follows for the Company’s plans as of September 30:
(In millions)20192018
Benefit obligationPlan assetsBenefit obligationPlan assets
Plans with projected benefit obligation in excess of plan assets$2,242  $1,898  $2,045  $1,749  
Plans with accumulated benefit obligation in excess of plan assets$2,229  $1,889  $2,034  $1,741  
Schedule of Investment Categories for Pension Plan Assets
The following table summarizes the various investment categories that the pension plan assets are invested in and the applicable fair value hierarchy as described in Note 2 that the financial instruments are classified within these investment categories as of September 30, 2019 and 2018:

September 30, 2019
(In millions)Total fair valueLevel 1Level 2Level 3Assets measured at NAV
Cash and cash equivalents$166  $166  $—  $—  $—  
U.S. government securities and futures
162  —  162  —  —  
Other government securities41  —  41  —  —  
Corporate debt instruments1,075  —  1,075  —  —  
Insurance contracts7  —  —  7  —  
Private equity and hedge funds15  —  —  —  15  
Common collective trusts474  —  —  —  474  
Other investments3  
—
3  
—
—  
Total assets at fair value$1,943  $166  $1,281  $7  $489  



September 30, 2018
(In millions)Total fair valueLevel 1Level 2Level 3Assets measured at NAV
Cash and cash equivalents$100  $100  $—  $—  $—  
U.S. government securities and futures (a)
74  (3) 77  —  —  
Other government securities92  1  91  —  —  
Corporate debt instruments (b)
1,056  —  1,056  —  —  
Insurance contracts4  —  —  4  —  
Private equity and hedge funds60  —  —  —  60  
Common collective trusts406  —  —  —  406  
Total assets at fair value$1,792  $98  $1,224  $4  $466  
(a)Level 1 investments are in a liability position as of September 30, 2018 and represent exchange-traded futures contracts that are used to manage the interest rate risk in the plan asset portfolio.
Schedule of Reconciliation of Level 3 Assets
The following table provides a reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances for Level 3 plan assets:

(In millions)Total Level 3 assets
Balance at September 30, 2017$16  
Purchases3  
Sales (a)
(8) 
Actual return on assets held at end of year1  
Actual return on assets sold during year(8) 
Balance at September 30, 20184  
Purchases1  
Actual return on assets held at end of year2  
Balance at September 30, 2019$7  
(a) Level 3 assets that were liquidated during fiscal 2018 represented real estate investments that were valued using DCF and unobservable inputs, including future rentals, expenses and residual values from a market participant view of the highest and best use of the real estate.
Schedule of Investments Measured at Fair Value Using NAV Per Share
The following table summarizes investments for which fair value is measured using the NAV per share practical expedient as of September 30, 2019:

(In millions)Fair value at NAVUnfunded commitmentsRedemption frequency (if currently eligible)Redemption notice period
Long/short hedge funds$3  $—  
None (a)
None (a)
Relative value hedge funds4  —  
None (b)
None (b)
Multi-strategy hedge funds—  —  
None (b)
None (b)
Event driven hedge funds1  —  
None (b)
None (b)
Common collective trusts453  —  Daily
Up to 3 days
13  —  Monthly5 days
8  —  
N/A (c)
N/A (c)
Private equity7  2  
None (d)
None (d)
$489  $2  
(a)These hedge funds are in the process of liquidation over the next year.
(b)These hedge funds are in the process of liquidation and the timing of such is unknown.
(c)These assets are held in Australia and are investments in funds that include a diversified portfolio across various asset classes. The time period for redemption of these assets is not determinable.
(d)These private equity instruments are estimated to be liquidated over the next 1 to 5 years.
Schedule of Weighted-Average Asset Allocations And Plan Asset Allocations The weighted-average asset allocations for Valvoline’s U.S. and non-U.S. plans by asset category follow as of September 30:
Target20192018
Plan assets allocation
Equity securities
15-25%
17 %23 %
Debt securities
65-85%
81 %76 %
Other
0-20%
2 %1 %
Total100 %100 %
Schedule of Expected Benefit Payments
The following benefit payments, which reflect future service expectations, are projected to be paid in each of the next five fiscal years and the five fiscal years thereafter in aggregate:

(In millions)Pension benefitsOther postretirement benefits
2020$143  $6  
2021143  5  
2022143  4  
2023142  4  
2024140  3  
2025 - 2029688  15  
Total$1,399  $37