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

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

"We ratify the ruling of February 14 2011 in all its parts, including the sentence for moral reparation," said the ruling issued on Tuesday, which was obtained by Reuters."

Victor Gomez reports for Reuters January 4, 2012. [2]