GAAP requires or permits certain assets and liabilities to be measured at fair value on a recurring or nonrecurring basis in our balance sheets, and those assets and liabilities are presented below under “Recurring Fair Value Measurements” and “Nonrecurring Fair Value Measurements.” Assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis, such as derivative financial instruments, are measured at fair value at the end of each reporting period. Assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis, such as the impairment of property, plant and equipment, are measured at fair value in particular circumstances.

GAAP also requires the disclosure of the fair values of financial instruments when an option to elect fair value accounting has been provided, but such election has not been made. A debt obligation is an example of such a financial instrument. The disclosure of the fair values of financial instruments not recognized at fair value in our balance sheets is presented below under “Financial Instruments.”

GAAP provides a framework for measuring fair value and establishes a three-level fair value hierarchy that prioritizes inputs to valuation techniques based on the degree to which objective prices in external active markets are available to measure fair value. The following is a description of each of the levels of the fair value hierarchy.

•Level 2 – Inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly. These include quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets and quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active.

•Level 3 – Unobservable inputs for the asset or liability. Unobservable inputs reflect our own assumptions about what market participants would use to price the asset or liability. The inputs are developed based on the best information available in the circumstances, which might include occasional market quotes or sales of similar instruments or our own financial data such as internally developed pricing models, discounted cash flow methodologies, as well as instruments for which the fair value determination requires significant judgment.

The following tables present information (in millions) about our assets and liabilities recognized at their fair values in our balance sheets categorized according to the fair value hierarchy of the inputs utilized by us to determine the fair values as of December 31, 2023 and 2022.

We have elected to offset the fair value amounts recognized for multiple similar derivative contracts executed with the same counterparty, including any related cash collateral assets or obligations as shown below; however, fair value amounts by hierarchy level are presented in the following tables on a gross basis. We have no derivative contracts that are subject to master netting arrangements that are reflected gross in our balance sheets.


	December 31, 2023
							Total Gross Fair Value		Effect of Counter- party Netting		Effect of Cash Collateral Netting		Net Carrying Value on Balance Sheet		Cash Collateral Paid or Received Not Offset
	Fair Value Hierarchy
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
Assets
Commodity derivative contracts	$	803	$	—	$	—	$	803	$	(642)	$	(66)	$	95	$	—


Investments of certain benefit plans	76		—		4		80		n/a		n/a		80		n/a
Investments in AFS debt securities	36		75		—		111		n/a		n/a		111		n/a
Total	$	915	$	75	$	4	$	994	$	(642)	$	(66)	$	286

Liabilities
Commodity derivative contracts	$	643	$	—	$	—	$	643	$	(642)	$	(1)	$	—	$	(67)
Blending program obligations	—		58		—		58		n/a		n/a		58		n/a
Physical purchase contracts	—		6		—		6		n/a		n/a		6		n/a
Foreign currency contracts	7		—		—		7		n/a		n/a		7		n/a
Total	$	650	$	64	$	—	$	714	$	(642)	$	(1)	$	71


	December 31, 2022
							Total Gross Fair Value		Effect of Counter- party Netting		Effect of Cash Collateral Netting		Net Carrying Value on Balance Sheet		Cash Collateral Paid or Received Not Offset
	Fair Value Hierarchy
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
Assets
Commodity derivative contracts	$	830	$	—	$	—	$	830	$	(705)	$	(8)	$	117	$	—
Physical purchase contracts	—		4		—		4		n/a		n/a		4		n/a

Investments of certain benefit plans	72		—		6		78		n/a		n/a		78		n/a
Investments in AFS debt securities	56		165		—		221		n/a		n/a		221		n/a
Total	$	958	$	169	$	6	$	1,133	$	(705)	$	(8)	$	420

Liabilities
Commodity derivative contracts	$	705	$	—	$	—	$	705	$	(705)	$	—	$	—	$	(149)
Blending program obligations	—		55		—		55		n/a		n/a		55		n/a
Physical purchase contracts	—		4		—		4		n/a		n/a		4		n/a
Foreign currency contracts	2		—		—		2		n/a		n/a		2		n/a
Total	$	707	$	59	$	—	$	766	$	(705)	$	—	$	61

A description of our assets and liabilities recognized at fair value along with the valuation methods and inputs we used to develop their fair value measurements are as follows:

•Commodity derivative contracts consist primarily of exchange-traded futures, which are used to reduce the impact of price volatility on our results of operations and cash flows as discussed in Note 20. These contracts are measured at fair value using a market approach based on quoted prices from the commodity exchange and are categorized in Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy.

•Physical purchase contracts represent the fair value of fixed-price corn purchase contracts. The fair values of these purchase contracts are measured using a market approach based on quoted prices from the commodity exchange or an independent pricing service and are categorized in Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.

•Investments of certain benefit plans consist of investment securities held by trusts for the purpose of satisfying a portion of our obligations under certain U.S. nonqualified benefit plans. The plan assets categorized in Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy are measured at fair value using a market approach based on quoted prices from national securities exchanges. The plan assets categorized in Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy represent insurance contracts, the fair value of which is provided by the insurer.

•Investments in AFS debt securities consist primarily of commercial paper and U.S. government treasury bills and have maturities within one year. The securities categorized in Level 1 are measured at fair value using a market approach based on quoted prices from national securities exchanges, and the securities categorized in Level 2 are measured at fair value using a market approach based on quoted prices from independent pricing services. The amortized cost basis of the securities approximates fair value. Realized and unrealized gains and losses were de minimis for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.

•Blending program obligations represent our liability for the purchase of compliance credits needed to satisfy our blending obligations under the Renewable and Low-Carbon Fuel Programs. The blending program obligations are categorized in Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy and are measured at fair value using a market approach based on quoted prices from an independent pricing service.

•Foreign currency contracts consist of foreign currency exchange and purchase contracts and foreign currency swap agreements related to our foreign operations to manage our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations on transactions denominated in currencies other than the local (functional) currencies of our operations. These contracts are valued based on quoted foreign currency exchange rates and are categorized in Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy.

As discussed in Note 6, we concluded that our Lakota ethanol plant was impaired as of December 31, 2022, which resulted in an asset impairment loss of $61 million. The fair value of the Lakota ethanol plant was determined using a combination of the income and market approaches and was classified in Level 3. We employed a probability-weighted approach to possible future cash flow scenarios, including the use of peer company metrics and comparison to a recent sales transaction.

Our financial instruments include cash and cash equivalents, investments in AFS debt securities, receivables, payables, debt obligations, operating and finance lease obligations, commodity derivative contracts, and foreign currency contracts. The estimated fair values of cash and cash equivalents, receivables, payables, and operating and finance lease obligations approximate their carrying amounts; the carrying value and fair value of debt is shown in the table below (in millions).


		December 31, 2023				December 31, 2022
	Fair Value Hierarchy	Carrying Amount		Fair Value		Carrying Amount		Fair Value
Financial liabilities:
Debt (excluding finance lease obligations)	Level 2	$	9,218	$	9,109	$	9,241	$	8,902

Investments in AFS debt securities, commodity derivative contracts, and foreign currency contracts are recognized at their fair values as shown in “Recurring Fair Value Measurements” above.