Description of Company and Operations

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Description of Company and Operations [Abstract]

Description of Company and Operations

1.       Description of Company and Operations

LyondellBasell Industries N.V. is a limited liability company (Naamloze Vennootschap) incorporated under Dutch law by deed of incorporation dated October 15, 2009. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. was formed to serve as the parent holding company for certain subsidiaries of LyondellBasell Industries AF S.C.A. (together with its subsidiaries, “LyondellBasell AF,” the “Predecessor Company” or the “Predecessor”) after completion of proceedings under chapter 11 (“chapter 11”) of title 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (the “U.S. Bankruptcy Code”). LyondellBasell Industries AF S.C.A. and 93 of its subsidiaries were debtors (“the Debtors”) in jointly administered bankruptcy cases (the “Bankruptcy Cases”) in the United States Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York (the “Bankruptcy Court”). As of April 30, 2010 (the “Emergence Date”), LyondellBasell Industries AF S.C.A.'s equity interests in its indirect subsidiaries terminated and LyondellBasell Industries N.V. now owns and operates, directly and indirectly, substantially the same business as LyondellBasell Industries AF S.C.A. owned and operated prior to emergence from the Bankruptcy Cases, which business includes subsidiaries of LyondellBasell Industries AF S.C.A. that were not involved in the Bankruptcy Cases. LyondellBasell Industries N.V. is the successor to the combination in December 2007 of Lyondell Chemical Company (“Lyondell Chemical”) and Basell AF S.C.A. (“Basell”), which created one of the world's largest private petrochemical companies with significant worldwide scale and leading product positions. LyondellBasell Industries AF S.C.A. is no longer part of the LyondellBasell group.

LyondellBasell Industries N.V., together with its consolidated subsidiaries (collectively “LyondellBasell N.V.,” the “Successor Company” or the “Successor”), 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 production of polymers. When we use the terms “LyondellBasell N.V.,” the “Successor Company,” the “Successor,” “we,” “us,” “our” or similar words, unless the context otherwise requires, we are referring to LyondellBasell N.V. after April 30, 2010. References herein to the “Company” for periods through April 30, 2010 are to the Predecessor Company, LyondellBasell AF, and for periods after the Emergence Date, to the Successor Company, LyondellBasell N.V.

LyondellBasell Industries AF S.C.A. was formed in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg as a corporate partnership limited by shares in April 2005 by BI S.à.r.l., a Luxembourg private limited liability company, affiliated with Access Industries (“Access Industries”), which is a privately held industrial group based in the United States (“U.S”). On July 2, 2009, Nell Limited (“Nell”), an affiliate of Access Industries and the indirect owner of 100% of the share capital of LyondellBasell AF, transferred its indirect ownership interest in LyondellBasell AF to Prochemie GmbH (“Prochemie”), a wholly owned subsidiary of ProChemie Holding Ltd. (“ProChemie Holding”). As of July 2, 2009, Nell and ProChemie Holding each owned 50% of Prochemie, which owned 100% of the share capital of LyondellBasell AF.