Commitments and Contingencies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies [Text Block]

11. Commitments and Contingencies

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 $97 million and $106 million as of September 30,2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively. At September 30,2015, the accrued liabilities for individual sites range from less than $1million to $18 million. The remediation expenditures are expected to occur over a number of years, and not to be 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.

The following table summarizes the activity in our accrued environmental liability included in “Accrued liabilities” and “Other liabilities:”

	Nine Months Ended
	September 30,
Millions of dollars	2015		2014
Beginning balance	$	106	$	120
Additional provision		6		- -
Changes in estimates		(3)		- -
Amounts paid		(6)		(5)
Foreign exchange effects		(6)		(7)
Other		- -		(3)
Ending balance	$	97	$	105

Access Indemnity Demand―In December 2010, one of our subsidiaries received demand letters from affiliates of Access Industries (collectively, “Access Entities”), a more than five percent shareholder of the Company, demanding indemnity for losses, including attorney’s fees and expenses, arising out of a pending lawsuit styled Edward S. Weisfelner, as Litigation Trustee of the LB Litigation Trust v. Leonard Blavatnik, et al., Adversary Proceeding No. 09-1375 (REG), in the United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York. In the Weisfelnerlawsuit, the plaintiffs seek to recover from Access the return of all amounts earned by the Access Entities related to their purchase of shares of Lyondell Chemical prior to its acquisition by Basell AF S.C.A.; distributions by Basell AF S.C.A. to its shareholders before it acquired Lyondell Chemical; and management and transaction fees and expenses. The trial that was scheduled for October 2011 has been postponed.

The Access Entities have also demanded $100 million in management fees under a 2007 management agreement between an Access affiliate and the predecessor of LyondellBasell AF, as well as other unspecified amounts relating to advice purportedly given in connection with financing and other strategic transactions. In June 2009, an Access affiliate filed a proof of claim in Bankruptcy Court against LyondellBasell AF seeking “no less than” $723 thousand for amounts allegedly owed under the 2007 management agreement. In April 2011, Lyondell Chemical filed an objection to the claim and brought a declaratory judgment action for a determination that the demands are not valid. The declaratory judgment action is stayed pending the outcome of the Weisfelnerlawsuit.

We do not believe that the 2007 management agreement is in effect or that the Company or any Company-affiliated entity owes any obligations under the management agreement, including for management fees or for indemnification. We intend to vigorously defend our position in any proceedings and against any claims or demands that may be asserted.

We cannot at this time estimate the reasonably possible loss or range of loss that may be incurred in the Weisfelnerlawsuit; therefore, we cannot estimate the loss that may be sought by way of indemnity.

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 September 30,2015, 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 five to ten years.