U.S. judge reserves order in Chevron-Ecuador case

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A temporary restraining order will remain in place that stops Ecuadorean plaintiffs from enforcing any judgment against oil company Chevron Corp outside of the United States in an 18 year-long dispute over pollution of Ecuador's rainforest.

At a hearing in U.S. District Court in New York on Friday, Judge Lewis Kaplan did not convert his February 8 temporary order into an injunction. The temporary restraining order lasts until March 8.

Kaplan asked the parties to submit expert affidavits by February 24 on issues of Ecuadorean law and the appeals process in the South American country, where a court on February 14 issued a $8.6 billion award to farmers who accuse CHEVRON (CVX.NY)of polluting the Amazon jungle.

(Reporting by Grant McCool and Basil Katz; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)