CVX Chevron Corporation

Chevron Corporation (CVX) has filed an appeal seeking the review of a judgment issued against it early this month in an Ecuadorian court.

Chevron is accused of oil contamination in Ecuador's Amazon region. The company denies the allegations.

In a statement, the company said Friday that the appeal, called a petition for cassation, "details multiple legal grounds for reversal of the January appellate court decision."

According to the company, the appeal seeks a review by the Ecuador's National Court of Justice.

On Jan. 3, an Ecuadorian court ratified a multi-billion dollar ruling issued last year against Chevron, holding the company responsible for environmental and punitive damages stemming from oil operations in Ecuador's Amazon region.

An appeals judge upheld the original ruling, issued in February 2011, "in all its aspects."

The original decision ordered Chevron to pay a $9.5 billion in remediation costs and plaintiff damages, and an additional $8.6 billion if it refused to apologize for environmental damages, which the company denies.

Ecuadorian plaintiffs have said that they will seek to collect the money from the January ruling in foreign countries, and their strategy to collect the money will include confiscating company assets and freezing international accounts.

In addition to the appeal filed today, Chevron said that it continues to seek recourse through legal proceedings outside of Ecuador.

Ecuadorean indigenous groups suing Chevron claim that the company's Texaco unit polluted the rainforest and rivers, causing environmental damage and personal injuries as a result of its operations in Ecuador. Chevron denies the allegations.

Chevron inherited the lawsuit in 2001 when it acquired Texaco Inc., which had operations in Ecuador from 1964 until 1992.

Chevron has never had exploration and production operations in Ecuador.

The company said Friday that it has asked that the Ecuadorian appellate court take all steps to suspend enforcement of the judgment until further order of a tribunal in The Hague, including suspension of any requirement that Chevron post a bond to prevent enforcement of the judgment during the cassation appeal.

Last February an arbitration panel in the Permanent Court for Arbitration in The Hague ordered Ecuador "to take all measures at its disposal to suspend or cause to be suspended the enforcement or recognition within and without Ecuador of any judgment against" Chevron.

Karen Hinton, a plaintiffs' spokeswoman said Friday that the Chevron "seeks special treatment not afforded any other litigant under Ecuadorian law. Chevron's request that a bond requirement be waived would force the Ecuador appellate court to violate laws protecting the winning side in any litigation from further attempts by the loser to delay the proceedings and cause further harm."

-By Mercedes Alvaro, Dow Jones Newswires; 5939-9728-653; mercedes.alvaro@dowjones.com

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