CONOCOPHILLIPS - Quarter Report: 2019 March (Form 10-Q)

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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2019

or

For the transition period from              to             

Commission file number: 001-32395

ConocoPhillips

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

925 N. Eldridge Parkway Houston, TX 77079

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

281-293-1000

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).    Yes  ☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

The registrant had 1,130,175,935 shares of common stock, $.01 par value, outstanding at March 31, 2019.

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CONOCOPHILLIPS

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COMMONLY USED ABBREVIATIONS

The following industry-specific, accounting and other terms, and abbreviations may be commonly used in this report.

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PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

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See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

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See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

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Restricted cash of $89 million and $163 million are included in the “Prepaid expenses and other current assets” and “Other assets” lines, respectively, of our Consolidated Balance Sheet as of March 31, 2019.

Restricted cash totaling $236 million is included in the “Other assets” line of our Consolidated Balance Sheet as of December 31, 2018.

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

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Note 1—Basis of Presentation

The interim-period financial information presented in the financial statements included in this report is unaudited and, in the opinion of management, includes all known accruals and adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the consolidated financial position of ConocoPhillips and its results of operations and cash flows for such periods. All such adjustments are of a normal and recurring nature unless otherwise disclosed. Certain notes and other information have been condensed or omitted from the interim financial statements included in this report. Therefore, these financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes included in our 2018 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Note 2—Changes in Accounting Principles

We adopted the provisions of FASB ASU No. 2016-02, “Leases,” and its amendments set forth by the provisions of ASU No. 2018-01, “Land Easement Practical Expedient for Transition to Topic 842,” ASU No. 2018-10, “Codification Improvements to Topic 842, Leases,” ASU No. 2018-11, “Targeted Improvements,” ASU No. 2018-20, “Narrow-Scope Improvements for Lessors,” and ASU No. 2019-01, “Codification Improvements,” collectively FASB ASC Topic 842, “Leases” (ASC Topic 842), beginning January 1, 2019.

ASC Topic 842 establishes comprehensive accounting and financial reporting requirements for leasing arrangements, supersedes the existing requirements in FASB ASC Topic 840, “Leases” (ASC Topic 840), and requires lessees to recognize substantially all lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet. The provisions of ASC Topic 842 also modify the definition of a lease and outline requirements for recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of leasing arrangements by both lessees and lessors.    

We adopted ASC Topic 842 using the modified retrospective approach and elected to utilize the Optional Transition Method, which permits us to apply the provisions of ASC Topic 842 to leasing arrangements existing at or entered into after January 1, 2019, and present in our financial statements comparative periods prior to January 1, 2019 under the historical requirements of ASC Topic 840. In addition, we elected to adopt the package of optional transition-related practical expedients, which among other things, allows us to carry forward certain historical conclusions reached under ASC Topic 840 regarding lease identification, classification, and the accounting treatment of initial direct costs. Furthermore, we elected not to record assets and liabilities on our consolidated balance sheet for new or existing lease arrangements with terms of 12 months or less.

The primary impact of applying ASC Topic 842 is the initial recognition of $998 million of lease liabilities and corresponding right-of-use assets on our consolidated balance sheet as of January 1, 2019, for leases classified as operating leases under ASC Topic 840, as well as enhanced disclosure of our leasing arrangements. Our accounting treatment for finance leases remains unchanged. In addition, there is no cumulative effect to retained earnings or other components of equity recognized as of January 1, 2019, and the adoption of ASC Topic 842 did not impact the presentation of our consolidated income statement or statement of cash flows.    See Note 15—Non-Mineral Leases for additional information related to the adoption of ASC Topic 842.

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We adopted the provisions of FASB ASU No. 2018-02, “Reclassification of Certain Tax Effects from Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income,” beginning January 1, 2019. The ASU allows a reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive income to retained earnings for stranded tax effects resulting from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, eliminating the stranded tax effects. The cumulative effect to our consolidated balance sheet at January 1, 2019 for the adoption of ASU No. 2018-02 was as follows:

For additional information regarding the impact of the adoption of ASU No. 2018-02, see Note 16—Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss.

Note 3—Variable Interest Entities

We hold variable interests in VIEs that have not been consolidated because we are not considered the primary beneficiary. Information on our significant VIEs follows:

Australia Pacific LNG Pty Ltd (APLNG)

APLNG is considered a VIE, as it has entered into certain contractual arrangements that provide it with additional forms of subordinated financial support. We are not the primary beneficiary of APLNG because we share with Origin Energy and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) the power to direct the key activities of APLNG that most significantly impact its economic performance, which involve activities related to the production and commercialization of CBM, as well as LNG processing and export marketing. As a result, we do not consolidate APLNG, and it is accounted for as an equity method investment.

As of March 31, 2019, we have not provided any financial support to APLNG other than amounts previously contractually required. Unless we elect otherwise, we have no requirement to provide liquidity or purchase the assets of APLNG. See Note 6—Investments, Loans and Long-Term Receivables, and Note 11—Guarantees, for additional information.

Marine Well Containment Company, LLC (MWCC)

MWCC provides well containment equipment and technology and related services in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Its principal activities involve the development and maintenance of rapid-response hydrocarbon well containment systems that are deployable in the Gulf of Mexico on a call-out basis. We have a 10 percent ownership interest in MWCC, and it is accounted for as an equity method investment because MWCC is a limited liability company in which we are a Founding Member and exercise significant influence through our permanent seat on the ten-member Executive Committee responsible for overseeing the affairs of MWCC. In 2016, MWCC executed a $154 million term loan financing arrangement with an external financial institution whose terms required the financing be secured by letters of credit provided by certain owners of MWCC, including ConocoPhillips. In connection with the financing transaction, we issued a letter of credit of $22 million which can be drawn upon in the event of a default by MWCC on its obligation to repay the proceeds of the term loan. The fair value of this letter of credit is immaterial and not recognized on our consolidated balance sheet. MWCC is considered a VIE, as it has entered into arrangements that provide it with additional forms of subordinated financial support. We are not the primary beneficiary and do not consolidate MWCC because we share the power to govern the business and operation of the company and to undertake certain obligations that most significantly impact its economic performance with nine other unaffiliated owners of MWCC.

At March 31, 2019, the carrying value of our equity method investment in MWCC was $126 million. We have not provided any financial support to MWCC other than amounts previously contractually required. Unless we elect otherwise, we have no requirement to provide liquidity or purchase the assets of MWCC.

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Note 4—Inventories

Inventories consisted of the following:

Inventories valued on the LIFO basis totaled $248 million and $292 million at March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively. The estimated excess of current replacement cost over LIFO cost of inventories was approximately $166 million and $75 million at March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, respectively.

Note 5—Assets Sold and Planned Dispositions

Assets Sold

On April 15, 2019, we completed the sale of our 30 percent interest in Greater Sunrise Fields to the government of Timor-Leste for $350 million before customary adjustments and will recognize an after-tax gain of approximately $50 million in the second quarter. The Greater Sunrise Fields are included in our Asia Pacific and Middle East segment.

Planned Dispositions

In January 2019, we entered into agreements to sell our 12.4 percent ownership interests in the Golden Pass LNG Terminal and Golden Pass Pipeline. We have also entered into agreements to amend our contractual obligations for retaining use of the facilities. As a result of entering into these agreements, we recorded a before-tax impairment of $60 million in the first quarter of 2019 which is included in the “Equity in earnings of affiliates” line on our consolidated income statement. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval. Both ownership interests are accounted for as equity affiliates in our Lower 48 segment. See Note 14—Fair Value Measurement for additional information.

In April 2019, we entered into an agreement to sell two ConocoPhillips U.K. subsidiaries to Chrysaor E&P Limited for $2.675 billion plus interest and customary adjustments. Together the subsidiaries indirectly hold the company’s exploration and production assets in the U.K. As of March 31, 2019, the net carrying value was approximately $0.8 billion, with $1.6 billion of PP&E, $0.5 billion of working capital, $0.4 billion of cumulative foreign currency translation adjustments, and deferred tax assets of $0.3 billion, offset by $2.0 billion of ARO. As part of the transaction, we expect to recognize a U.S. tax benefit of $0.2 billion in the second quarter of 2019 related to a previously unrecognizable U.S. tax basis in the subsidiaries to be sold. Depending on the timing of regulatory approval and other specific conditions precedent, we anticipate recognizing a gain of approximately $2 billion before- and after-tax on completion of the sale in the second half of 2019, subject to customary adjustments and foreign exchange impacts. The subsidiaries met held for sale criteria in April 2019. Results of operations for the U.K. are reported within our Europe and North Africa segment.

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Note 6—Investments, Loans and Long-Term Receivables

APLNG

APLNG executed project financing agreements for an $8.5 billion project finance facility in 2012. The $8.5 billion project finance facility was initially composed of financing agreements executed by APLNG with the Export-Import Bank of the United States for approximately $2.9 billion, the Export-Import Bank of China for approximately $2.7 billion, and a syndicate of Australian and international commercial banks for approximately $2.9 billion. All amounts have been drawn from the facility. APLNG made its first principal and interest repayment in March 2017 and is scheduled to make bi-annual payments until March 2029.

APLNG made a voluntary repayment of $1.4 billion to the Export-Import Bank of China in September 2018. At the same time, APLNG obtained a United States Private Placement (USPP) bond facility of $1.4 billion. APLNG made its first interest payment in March 2019, and principal payments are scheduled to commence in September 2023, with bi-annual payments due on the facility until September 2030.

During the first quarter of 2019, APLNG refinanced $3.2 billion of existing project finance debt through two transactions. As a result of the first transaction, APLNG obtained a commercial bank facility of $2.6 billion. Interest and principal payments are scheduled to commence in September 2019, with bi-annual payments due on the facility until March 2028. Through the second transaction, APLNG obtained a USPP bond facility of $0.6 billion. Interest payments are scheduled to commence in September 2019, and principal payments are scheduled to commence in September 2023, with bi-annual payments due on the facility until September 2030.

In conjunction with the $3.2 billion debt obtained during the first quarter of 2019 to refinance existing project finance debt, APLNG made voluntary repayments of $2.2 billion and $1.0 billion to a syndicate of Australian and international commercial banks and the Export-Import Bank of China, respectively.

At March 31, 2019, a balance of $7.0 billion was outstanding on the facilities. See Note 11—Guarantees, for additional information.

APLNG is considered a VIE, as it has entered into certain contractual arrangements that provide it with additional forms of subordinated financial support. See Note 3—Variable Interest Entities, for additional information.

At March 31, 2019, the carrying value of our equity method investment in APLNG was $7,589 million. The balance is included in the “Investments and long-term receivables” line on our consolidated balance sheet.

Loans and Long-Term Receivables

As part of our normal ongoing business operations, and consistent with industry practice, we enter into numerous agreements with other parties to pursue business opportunities. Included in such activity are loans made to certain affiliated and non-affiliated companies. At March 31, 2019, significant loans to affiliated companies included $399 million in project financing to Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited (3) (QG3).

On our consolidated balance sheet, the long-term portion of these loans is included in the “Loans and advances—related parties” line, while the short-term portion is in the “Accounts and notes receivable—related parties” line.

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Note 7—Investment in Cenovus Energy

On May 17, 2017, we completed the sale of our 50 percent nonoperated interest in the Foster Creek Christina Lake (FCCL) Partnership, as well as the majority of our western Canada gas assets to Cenovus Energy. Consideration for the transaction included 208 million Cenovus Energy common shares, which, at closing, approximated 16.9 percent of issued and outstanding Cenovus common stock. The fair value and cost basis of our investment in 208 million Cenovus Energy common shares at closing was $1.96 billion based on a price of $9.41 per share on the New York Stock Exchange.

Our investment on our consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2019, is carried at fair value of $1.81 billion, reflecting the closing price of Cenovus Energy shares on the New York Stock Exchange of $8.68 per share on the last trading day of the quarter, an increase of $343 million from $1.46 billion at year-end 2018. The increase in fair value represents the net unrealized gain recorded within the “Other income” line of our consolidated income statement in the first quarter of 2019 relating to the shares held at the reporting date. See Note 14—Fair Value Measurement, for additional information. Subject to market conditions, we intend to decrease our investment over time through market transactions, private agreements or otherwise.

Note 8—Suspended Wells

The capitalized cost of suspended wells at March 31, 2019, was $869 million, an increase of $13 million from $856 million at year-end 2018. No suspended wells were charged to dry hole expense during the first three months of 2019 relating to exploratory well costs capitalized for a period greater than one year as of December 31, 2018.

Note 9—Debt

Our revolving credit facility provides a total commitment of $6.0 billion and expires in May 2023. Our revolving credit facility may be used for direct bank borrowings, the issuance of letters of credit totaling up to $500 million, or as support for our commercial paper program. Our commercial paper program consists of the ConocoPhillips Company $6.0 billion program, primarily a funding source for short-term working capital needs. Commercial paper maturities are generally limited to 90 days.

We had no commercial paper outstanding at March 31, 2019 or December 31, 2018. We had no direct outstanding borrowings or letters of credit under the revolving credit facility at March 31, 2019 or December 31, 2018. Since we had no commercial paper outstanding and had issued no letters of credit, we had access to $6.0 billion in borrowing capacity under our revolving credit facility at March 31, 2019.

At March 31, 2019, we had $283 million of certain variable rate demand bonds (VRDBs) outstanding with maturities ranging through 2035. The VRDBs are redeemable at the option of the bondholders on any business day. If they are ever redeemed, we intend to refinance on a long-term basis, therefore, the VRDBs are included in the “Long-term debt” line on our consolidated balance sheet.

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Note 10—Changes in Equity

The following tables reflect the changes in stockholders’ equity:

**Cumulative effect of the adoption of ASC Topic 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers”, and ASU No. 2016-01, “Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Liabilities”, at January 1, 2018.

Note 11—Guarantees

At March 31, 2019, we were liable for certain contingent obligations under various contractual arrangements as described below. We recognize a liability, at inception, for the fair value of our obligation as a guarantor for newly issued or modified guarantees. Unless the carrying amount of the liability is noted below, we have not recognized a liability because the fair value of the obligation is immaterial. In addition, unless otherwise stated, we are not currently performing with any significance under the guarantee and expect future performance to be either immaterial or have only a remote chance of occurrence.

APLNG Guarantees

At March 31, 2019, we had outstanding multiple guarantees in connection with our 37.5 percent ownership interest in APLNG. The following is a description of the guarantees with values calculated utilizing March 2019 exchange rates:

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Other Guarantees

We have other guarantees with maximum future potential payment amounts totaling approximately $780 million, which consist primarily of guarantees of the residual value of leased office buildings, guarantees of the residual value of corporate aircraft, and a guarantee for our portion of a joint venture’s project finance reserve accounts. These guarantees have remaining terms of up to four years and would become payable if, upon sale, certain asset values are lower than guaranteed amounts, business conditions decline at guaranteed entities, or as a result of nonperformance of contractual terms by guaranteed parties.

Indemnifications

Over the years, we have entered into agreements to sell ownership interests in certain corporations, joint ventures and assets that gave rise to qualifying indemnifications. These agreements include indemnifications for taxes, environmental liabilities, employee claims and litigation. The terms of these indemnifications vary greatly. The majority of these indemnifications are related to environmental issues, the term is generally indefinite and the maximum amount of future payments is generally unlimited. The carrying amount recorded for these indemnifications at March 31, 2019, was approximately $90 million. We amortize the indemnification liability over the relevant time period, if one exists, based on the facts and circumstances surrounding each type of indemnity. In cases where the indemnification term is indefinite, we will reverse the liability when we have information the liability is essentially relieved or amortize the liability over an appropriate time period as the fair value of our indemnification exposure declines. Although it is reasonably possible future payments may exceed amounts recorded, due to the nature of the indemnifications, it is not possible to make a reasonable estimate of the maximum potential amount of future payments. Included in the recorded carrying amount at March 31, 2019, were approximately $30 million of environmental accruals for known contamination that are included in the “Asset retirement obligations and accrued environmental costs” line on our consolidated balance sheet. For additional information about environmental liabilities, see Note 12—Contingencies and Commitments.

Note 12—Contingencies and Commitments

A number of lawsuits involving a variety of claims arising in the ordinary course of business have been filed against ConocoPhillips. We also may be required to remove or mitigate the effects on the environment of the placement, storage, disposal or release of certain chemical, mineral and petroleum substances at various active and inactive sites. We regularly assess the need for accounting recognition or disclosure of these contingencies. In the case of all known contingencies (other than those related to income taxes), we accrue a liability when the loss is probable and the amount is reasonably estimable. If a range of amounts can be reasonably estimated and no amount within the range is a better estimate than any other amount, then the minimum of the range is accrued. We do not reduce these liabilities for potential insurance or third-party recoveries. If applicable, we accrue receivables for probable insurance or other third-party recoveries. With

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respect to income tax-related contingencies, we use a cumulative probability-weighted loss accrual in cases where sustaining a tax position is less than certain.

Based on currently available information, we believe it is remote that future costs related to known contingent liability exposures will exceed current accruals by an amount that would have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial statements. As we learn new facts concerning contingencies, we reassess our position both with respect to accrued liabilities and other potential exposures. Estimates particularly sensitive to future changes include contingent liabilities recorded for environmental remediation, tax and legal matters. Estimated future environmental remediation costs are subject to change due to such factors as the uncertain magnitude of cleanup costs, the unknown time and extent of such remedial actions that may be required, and the determination of our liability in proportion to that of other responsible parties. Estimated future costs related to tax and legal matters are subject to change as events evolve and as additional information becomes available during the administrative and litigation processes.

Environmental

We are subject to international, federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations. When we prepare our consolidated financial statements, we record accruals for environmental liabilities based on management’s best estimates, using all information that is available at the time. We measure estimates and base liabilities on currently available facts, existing technology, and presently enacted laws and regulations, taking into account stakeholder and business considerations. When measuring environmental liabilities, we also consider our prior experience in remediation of contaminated sites, other companies’ cleanup experience, and data released by the U.S. EPA or other organizations. We consider unasserted claims in our determination of environmental liabilities, and we accrue them in the period they are both probable and reasonably estimable.

Although liability of those potentially responsible for environmental remediation costs is generally joint and several for federal sites and frequently so for other sites, we are usually only one of many companies cited at a particular site. Due to the joint and several liabilities, we could be responsible for all cleanup costs related to any site at which we have been designated as a potentially responsible party. We have been successful to date in sharing cleanup costs with other financially sound companies. Many of the sites at which we are potentially responsible are still under investigation by the EPA or the agency concerned. Prior to actual cleanup, those potentially responsible normally assess the site conditions, apportion responsibility and determine the appropriate remediation. In some instances, we may have no liability or may attain a settlement of liability. Where it appears that other potentially responsible parties may be financially unable to bear their proportional share, we consider this inability in estimating our potential liability, and we adjust our accruals accordingly. As a result of various acquisitions in the past, we assumed certain environmental obligations. Some of these environmental obligations are mitigated by indemnifications made by others for our benefit, and some of the indemnifications are subject to dollar limits and time limits.

We are currently participating in environmental assessments and cleanups at numerous federal Superfund and comparable state and international sites. After an assessment of environmental exposures for cleanup and other costs, we make accruals on an undiscounted basis (except those acquired in a purchase business combination, which we record on a discounted basis) for planned investigation and remediation activities for sites where it is probable future costs will be incurred and these costs can be reasonably estimated. We have not reduced these accruals for possible insurance recoveries.

At March 31, 2019, our consolidated balance sheet included a total environmental accrual of $176 million, compared with $178 million at December 31, 2018, for remediation activities in the United States and Canada. We expect to incur a substantial amount of these expenditures within the next 30 years. In the future, we may be involved in additional environmental assessments, cleanups and proceedings.

Legal Proceedings

We are subject to various lawsuits and claims including but not limited to matters involving oil and gas royalty and severance tax payments, gas measurement and valuation methods, contract disputes, environmental damages, personal injury, and property damage. Our primary exposures for such matters relate to alleged royalty and tax underpayments on certain federal, state and privately owned properties and claims of alleged

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environmental contamination from historic operations. We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously in these matters.

Our legal organization applies its knowledge, experience and professional judgment to the specific characteristics of our cases, employing a litigation management process to manage and monitor the legal proceedings against us. Our process facilitates the early evaluation and quantification of potential exposures in individual cases. This process also enables us to track those cases that have been scheduled for trial and/or mediation. Based on professional judgment and experience in using these litigation management tools and available information about current developments in all our cases, our legal organization regularly assesses the adequacy of current accruals and determines if adjustment of existing accruals, or establishment of new accruals, is required.

Other Contingencies

We have contingent liabilities resulting from throughput agreements with pipeline and processing companies not associated with financing arrangements. Under these agreements, we may be required to provide any such company with additional funds through advances and penalties for fees related to throughput capacity not utilized. In addition, at March 31, 2019, we had performance obligations secured by letters of credit of $274 million (issued as direct bank letters of credit) related to various purchase commitments for materials, supplies, commercial activities and services incident to the ordinary conduct of business.

In 2007, ConocoPhillips was unable to reach agreement with respect to the empresa mixta structure mandated by the Venezuelan government’s Nationalization Decree. As a result, Venezuela’s national oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), or its affiliates, directly assumed control over ConocoPhillips’ interests in the Petrozuata and Hamaca heavy oil ventures and the offshore Corocoro development project. In response to this expropriation, ConocoPhillips initiated international arbitration on November 2, 2007, with the ICSID. On September 3, 2013, an ICSID arbitration tribunal held that Venezuela unlawfully expropriated ConocoPhillips’ significant oil investments in June 2007. On January 17, 2017, the Tribunal reconfirmed the decision that the expropriation was unlawful. In March 2019, the Tribunal unanimously ordered the government of Venezuela to pay ConocoPhillips $8.7 billion in compensation for the government’s unlawful expropriation of the company’s investments in Venezuela in 2007. ConocoPhillips has filed a request for recognition of the Award in several jurisdictions. An Application for Rectification of the Award requesting correction of certain calculations was filed on behalf of the government of Venezuela, which the ICSID Tribunal is now reviewing. Once resolved, the government of Venezuela may then seek annulment of the Award.

In 2014, ConocoPhillips filed a separate and independent arbitration under the rules of the ICC against PDVSA under the contracts that had established the Petrozuata and Hamaca projects. The ICC Tribunal issued an award in April 2018, finding that PDVSA owed ConocoPhillips approximately $2 billion under their agreements in connection with the expropriation of the projects and other pre-expropriation fiscal measures. In August 2018, ConocoPhillips entered into a settlement with PDVSA to recover the full amount of this ICC award, plus interest through the payment period, including initial payments totaling approximately $500 million within a period of 90 days from the time of signing of the settlement agreement. The balance of the settlement is to be paid quarterly over a period of four and a half years. To date, PDVSA has fully complied with the terms of this settlement agreement. Per the settlement, PDVSA recognized the ICC award as a judgment in various jurisdictions, and ConocoPhillips agreed to suspend its legal enforcement actions. ConocoPhillips has ensured that the settlement meets all appropriate U.S. regulatory requirements, including any applicable sanctions imposed by the U.S. against Venezuela.

In 2016, ConocoPhillips filed a separate and independent arbitration under the rules of the ICC against PDVSA under the contracts that had established the Corocoro project. This ICC arbitration is currently in progress.

In February 2017, the ICSID Tribunal unanimously awarded Burlington Resources, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of ConocoPhillips, $380 million for Ecuador’s unlawful expropriation of Burlington’s investment in Blocks 7 and 21, in breach of the U.S.-Ecuador Bilateral Investment Treaty. The tribunal also issued a

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separate decision finding Ecuador to be entitled to $42 million for environmental and infrastructure counterclaims. In December 2017, Burlington and Ecuador entered into a settlement agreement by which Ecuador paid Burlington $337 million in two installments. The first installment of $75 million was paid in December 2017, and the second installment of $262 million was paid in April 2018. The settlement included an offset for the counterclaims decision, of which Burlington is entitled to a $24 million contribution from Perenco Ecuador Limited, its co-venturer and consortium operator, pursuant to a joint and several liability provision in the JOA. Ecuador’s environmental and infrastructure counterclaims against Perenco remain pending in a separate ICSID arbitration between Perenco and Ecuador, and Burlington may owe Perenco a contribution under the JOA for damages found by this tribunal.

In June 2017, FAR Ltd. initiated arbitration before the ICC against ConocoPhillips Senegal B.V., now Woodside Senegal B.V., in connection with the sale of ConocoPhillips Senegal B.V. to Woodside Energy Holdings (Senegal) Limited in 2016. This arbitration is ongoing.

In late 2017, ConocoPhillips (U.K.) Limited (CPUKL) initiated United Nations Commission on International Trade and Law (UNCITRAL) arbitration against Vietnam in accordance with the U.K.-Vietnam Bilateral Investment Treaty relating to a tax dispute arising from the 2012 sale of ConocoPhillips (U.K.) Cuu Long Limited and ConocoPhillips (U.K.) Gama Limited. The tribunal was constituted in February 2018. The arbitration is ongoing.

In 2017 and 2018, cities, counties, and a state government in California, New York, Washington, Rhode Island and Maryland, as well as the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Association, Inc., have filed lawsuits against oil and gas companies, including ConocoPhillips, seeking compensatory damages and equitable relief to abate alleged climate change impacts. ConocoPhillips is vigorously defending against these lawsuits. The lawsuits brought by the Cities of San Francisco, Oakland and New York have been dismissed by the district courts and appeals are pending.

Several Louisiana parishes and individual landowners have filed lawsuits against oil and gas companies, including ConocoPhillips, seeking compensatory damages in connection with historical oil and gas operations in Louisiana. ConocoPhillips will vigorously defend against these lawsuits.

Note 13—Derivative and Financial Instruments

Derivative Instruments

We use futures, forwards, swaps and options in various markets to meet our customer needs and capture market opportunities. Our commodity business primarily consists of natural gas, crude oil, bitumen, LNG and natural gas liquids.

Our derivative instruments are held at fair value on our consolidated balance sheet. Where these balances have the right of setoff, they are presented on a net basis. Related cash flows are recorded as operating activities on our consolidated statement of cash flows. On our consolidated income statement, realized and unrealized gains and losses are recognized either on a gross basis if directly related to our physical business or a net basis if held for trading. Gains and losses related to contracts that meet and are designated with the NPNS exception are recognized upon settlement. We generally apply this exception to eligible crude contracts. We do not use hedge accounting for our commodity derivatives.

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The following table presents the gross fair values of our commodity derivatives, excluding collateral, and the line items where they appear on our consolidated balance sheet:

The gains (losses) from commodity derivatives incurred, and the line items where they appear on our consolidated income statement were:

The table below summarizes our material net exposures resulting from outstanding commodity derivative contracts:

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Foreign Currency Exchange Derivatives

We have foreign currency exchange rate risk resulting from international operations. Our foreign currency exchange derivative activity primarily relates to managing our cash-related foreign currency exchange rate exposures, such as firm commitments for capital programs or local currency tax payments, dividends and cash returns from net investments in foreign affiliates, and investments in equity securities. We do not elect hedge accounting on our foreign currency exchange derivatives.

The following table presents the gross fair values of our foreign currency exchange derivatives, excluding collateral, and the line items where they appear on our consolidated balance sheet:

The gains from foreign currency exchange derivatives incurred and the line item where they appear on our consolidated income statement were:

We had the following net notional position of outstanding foreign currency exchange derivatives:

    *Primarily British pound and Norwegian krone.

  **Primarily euro and Norwegian krone.

In December 2017, we entered into foreign exchange zero cost collars buying the right to sell $1.25 billion CAD at $0.707 CAD and selling the right to buy $1.25 billion CAD at $0.842 CAD against the U.S. dollar.

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Financial Instruments

We invest excess cash in financial instruments with maturities based on our cash forecasts for the various currency pools we manage. The maturities of these investments may from time to time extend beyond 90 days. The types of financial instruments that we currently invest include:

These financial instruments appear in the “Cash and cash equivalents” line of our consolidated balance sheet if the maturities at the time we made the investments were 90 days or less; otherwise, these financial instruments are included in the “Short-term investments” line on our consolidated balance sheet.

Credit Risk

Financial instruments potentially exposed to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash equivalents, short-term investments, OTC derivative contracts and trade receivables. Our cash equivalents and short-term investments are placed in high-quality commercial paper, government money market funds, government debt securities and time deposits with major international banks and financial institutions.

The credit risk from our OTC derivative contracts, such as forwards, swaps and options, derives from the counterparty to the transaction. Individual counterparty exposure is managed within predetermined credit limits and includes the use of cash-call margins when appropriate, thereby reducing the risk of significant nonperformance. We also use futures, swaps and option contracts that have a negligible credit risk because these trades are cleared with an exchange clearinghouse and subject to mandatory margin requirements until settled; however, we are exposed to the credit risk of those exchange brokers for receivables arising from daily margin cash calls, as well as for cash deposited to meet initial margin requirements.

Our trade receivables result primarily from our petroleum operations and reflect a broad national and international customer base, which limits our exposure to concentrations of credit risk. The majority of these receivables have payment terms of 30 days or less, and we continually monitor this exposure and the creditworthiness of the counterparties. We do not generally require collateral to limit the exposure to loss; however, we will sometimes use letters of credit, prepayments and master netting arrangements to mitigate credit risk with counterparties that both buy from and sell to us, as these agreements permit the amounts owed by us or owed to others to be offset against amounts due to us.

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Certain of our derivative instruments contain provisions that require us to post collateral if the derivative exposure exceeds a threshold amount. We have contracts with fixed threshold amounts and other contracts with variable threshold amounts that are contingent on our credit rating. The variable threshold amounts typically decline for lower credit ratings, while both the variable and fixed threshold amounts typically revert to zero if we fall below investment grade. Cash is the primary collateral in all contracts; however, many also permit us to post letters of credit as collateral, such as transactions administered through the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The aggregate fair value of all derivative instruments with such credit risk-related contingent features that were in a liability position on March 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, was $50 million and $62 million, respectively. For these instruments, no collateral was posted as of March 31, or December 31, 2018. If our credit rating had been downgraded below investment grade on March 31, 2019, we would be required to post $50 million of additional collateral, either with cash or letters of credit.

Note 14—Fair Value Measurement

We carry a portion of our assets and liabilities at fair value that are measured at a reporting date using an exit price (i.e., the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability) and disclosed according to the quality of valuation inputs under the following hierarchy:

The classification of an asset or liability is based on the lowest level of input significant to its fair value. Those that are initially classified as Level 3 are subsequently reported as Level 2 when the fair value derived from unobservable inputs is inconsequential to the overall fair value, or if corroborated market data becomes available. Assets and liabilities initially reported as Level 2 are subsequently reported as Level 3 if corroborated market data is no longer available. Transfers occur at the end of the reporting period. There were no material transfers between levels during 2019 or 2018.

Recurring Fair Value Measurement

Financial assets and liabilities reported at fair value on a recurring basis primarily include our investment in Cenovus Energy shares and commodity derivatives. Level 1 derivative assets and liabilities primarily represent exchange-traded futures and options that are valued using unadjusted prices available from the underlying exchange. Level 1 also includes our investment in common shares of Cenovus Energy, which is valued using quotes for shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Level 2 derivative assets and liabilities primarily represent OTC swaps, options and forward purchase and sale contracts that are valued using adjusted exchange prices, prices provided by brokers or pricing service companies that are all corroborated by market data. Level 3 derivative assets and liabilities consist of OTC swaps, options and forward purchase and sale contracts where a significant portion of fair value is calculated from underlying market data that is not readily available. The derived value uses industry standard methodologies that may consider the historical relationships among various commodities, modeled market prices, time value, volatility factors and other relevant economic measures. The use of these inputs results in management’s best estimate of fair value. Level 3 activity was not material for all periods presented.

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The following table summarizes the fair value hierarchy for gross financial assets and liabilities (i.e., unadjusted where the right of setoff exists for commodity derivatives accounted for at fair value on a recurring basis):