AN Ecuadorean appeals court yesterday upheld a ruling that Chevron Corp. should pay US$18 billion in damages to plaintiffs who accused the U.S. oil giant of polluting the Amazon jungle and damaging their health.

    A local judge ordered Chevron, the second largest U.S. oil company, to pay US$8.6 billion in environmental damages last February, but the amount was more than doubled to about US$18 billion because Chevron failed to make a public apology as required by the original ruling.

    “We ratify the ruling of Feb. 14 2011 in all its parts, including the sentence for moral reparation,” the court in the Amazonian city of Lago Agrio said in its ruling.

    The events are being watched closely by the oil industry for precedents that could impact other big claims against companies accused of pollution in the countries where they operate.

    Chevron swiftly denounced the court’s ruling, calling it “illegitimate” and a fraud.

    The plaintiffs accused Texaco, which was acquired by Chevron in 2001, of dumping oil-drilling waste in unlined pits, polluting the forest and causing illness and deaths among indigenous people. They appealed the original court ruling, claiming more money would be needed for the cleanup. (SD-Agencies)