Miscellaneous Financial Information	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020
Miscellaneous Financial Information [Abstract]
Miscellaneous Financial Information	2. Miscellaneous Financial Information Crude oil, products and merchandise inventories are carried at the lower of current market value or cost, generally determined under the last-in first-out method (LIFO). The Corporation’s results for the first quarter of 2020 include a before-tax charge of $2,777 million, included in “Crude oil and product purchases” on the Statement of Income, from writing down the book value of inventories to their market value at the end of the period. This adjustment, together with a similar adjustment for equity companies included in “Income from equity affiliates,” resulted in a $2,096 million after-tax charge to earnings (excluding noncontrolling interests) and will be re-evaluated at the end of each quarter in 2020. The earnings impact may be adjusted upward or downward this year based on prevailing market prices at the time of future evaluations. At year-end, any required adjustment is considered permanent and is incorporated into the LIFO carrying value of the inventory. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in substantial reductions in demand for crude oil, natural gas, and petroleum products. This reduction in demand led to sharp declines in industry prices and considerable volatility in financial markets during the quarter. Based on deteriorating industry conditions and a significant reduction in its market capitalization, the Corporation assessed its goodwill balances and certain asset groups for impairment and recognized after-tax impairment charges of $787 million. These charges included goodwill impairment of $562 million in Upstream, Downstream, and Chemical reporting units and other impairment charges of $225 million, mainly in the Upstream segment. For the goodwill impairment charges, the fair values of the impacted reporting units primarily reflected market-based estimates of historical EBITDA multiples at the end of the quarter. For the other impairment charges, which mainly relate to the Corporation’s investment in an Upstream equity company, recent third party price outlooks, internal estimates of future volumes and costs, and estimates of discount rates for similar properties were used to estimate fair value. The charges related to goodwill impairment are included in “Depreciation and depletion” on the Statement of Income while the charges related to other impairments are largely included in “Income from equity affiliates.”

Miscellaneous Financial Information

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Miscellaneous Financial Information [Abstract]

2. Miscellaneous Financial Information

Crude oil, products and merchandise inventories are carried at the lower of current market value or cost, generally determined under the last-in first-out method (LIFO). The Corporation’s results for the first quarter of 2020 include a before-tax charge of $2,777 million, included in “Crude oil and product purchases” on the Statement of Income, from writing down the book value of inventories to their market value at the end of the period. This adjustment, together with a similar adjustment for equity companies included in “Income from equity affiliates,” resulted in a $2,096 million after-tax charge to earnings (excluding noncontrolling interests) and will be re-evaluated at the end of each quarter in 2020. The earnings impact may be adjusted upward or downward this year based on prevailing market prices at the time of future evaluations. At year-end, any required adjustment is considered permanent and is incorporated into the LIFO carrying value of the inventory.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in substantial reductions in demand for crude oil, natural gas, and petroleum products. This reduction in demand led to sharp declines in industry prices and considerable volatility in financial markets during the quarter. Based on deteriorating industry conditions and a significant reduction in its market capitalization, the Corporation assessed its goodwill balances and certain asset groups for impairment and recognized after-tax impairment charges of $787 million. These charges included goodwill impairment of $562 million in Upstream, Downstream, and Chemical reporting units and other impairment charges of $225 million, mainly in the Upstream segment. For the goodwill impairment charges, the fair values of the impacted reporting units primarily reflected market-based estimates of historical EBITDA multiples at the end of the quarter. For the other impairment charges, which mainly relate to the Corporation’s investment in an Upstream equity company, recent third party price outlooks, internal estimates of future volumes and costs, and estimates of discount rates for similar properties were used to estimate fair value. The charges related to goodwill impairment are included in “Depreciation and depletion” on the Statement of Income while the charges related to other impairments are largely included in “Income from equity affiliates.”