UPDATE 1-Few Chevron investors vote for environment report

SAN RAMON, Calif., May 27 (Reuters) - Chevron Corp (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) shareholders rejected a call for an environmental protection report on its global operations, disappointing activists and funds worried by a $27 billion damages claim against the company in Ecuador.

The proposal at the U.S. oil company's annual meeting on Wednesday, which was for a report on the protection of people and the environment in countries where Chevron operates, received fewer than 7 percent support from shareholders, Chevron said, citing preliminary results.

Chevron is battling the massive claim over jungle pollution in Ecuador; and that case, in which a ruling is expected this year, is among the issues cited by a group of mostly U.S. state and municipal funds in the proposal.

Chevron, which says votes on similar issues at past meetings got support of 8 percent to 10 percent, had criticized the proposal as part of a campaign led by trial lawyers to force the company to settle the Ecuador case. [ID:nN20512950]

Plaintiffs in the Ecuador case, which has run for a decade and a half, contend that Texaco -- bought by Chevron in 2001 -- polluted the jungle and damaged their health by dumping billions of gallons of contaminated water from 1972 to 1992. (Reporting by Braden Reddall, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)