雅思阅读材料：Chevron's dirty fight in Ecuador_雅思英语阅读

雅思阅读材料：Chevron's dirty fight in Ecuador

　　Chevron will not be admitting defeat, however. Its lawyers, who have already spent 18 years and tens of millions of dollars contesting the lawsuit, pledged yesterday to appeal against the fine through every conceivable legal avenue, on at least three continents. In statements, the oil company branded Ecuadors legal system corrupt and illegitimate, and said the courts ruling formed part of a vast extortion scheme. A spokesman for Chevron claimed that the fine, imposed by a judge in the town of Lago Agrio, was unenforceable in any court that observes the rule of law.

　　Chevrons lawyers have already filed appeals and counter-suits related to the case in six US courts. The company no longer has assets in Ecuador, so it intends to force the plaintiffs to pursue it internationally if they wish to see any of the damages. Chevron is also attempting to take the case to arbitration at a tribunal in the Netherlands.

　　A New York judge, Lewis A Kaplan, took the extraordinary step last week of pre-emptively blocking any financial judgment against the US-based company, anywhere in the world, for at least 28 days. He suggested that attempts to collect Chevrons assets might disrupt the day-to-day business of a company that was vital to the global economy.

　　That the dispute has reached this heady stage is hardly surprising, given both its enormous complexity and the vast amounts of money now at stake. The case stretches all the way back to 1964, when Texaco entered a partnership with Ecuadors state oil company, Petroecuador, to extract oil from the countrys remote Oriente region.