(Adds background on case, paragraph 3)

By Braden Reddall

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 27 (Reuters) - A trial to determine if Chevron Corp <CVX.N> was responsible for a deadly clash between Nigerian forces and locals occupying an oil platform began on Monday, raising questions about how far multinationals can go to protect their staff.

The trial will decide whether the company is responsible for one death and injuries among the 100 people who shut down the Parabe platform for three days before armed forces flew in on a Chevron contractor's helicopters to respond.

The original complaint sought to hold Chevron accountable for two deaths, but a company spokesman said only one death was included in the agreed facts for jurors on Monday.

Hostage-taking and ransom demands are a regular hazard for oil companies working in the swamps and shallow waters of the Niger Delta, where impoverished villagers complain they see no benefit from the industry.

The case in San Francisco federal court was brought against Chevron by Larry Bowoto, one of the Parabe platform occupiers who was injured by gunfire in the resulting clash in May 1998.

Those who occupied the platform say it was a peaceful protest by unarmed villagers who accused Chevron Nigeria Ltd of polluting their water and wanted compensation.

Chevron, which said the occupiers had demanded "ransom" and issued threats, argues it had a duty to protect employees.

Parabe, nine miles (14.5 km) off the coast, accounted for a fifth of Chevron's Nigerian daily crude oil output of 400,000 barrels.

Opening arguments are not expected to start until Tuesday.

The dispute fits into a broader political discussion about the responsibilities of U.S. companies abroad. The head of a Senate subcommittee on human rights and the law argued last month at a hearing on corporate responsibility and natural resources that the issue was not "black and white."

"There is no doubt that American oil, gas and mining companies operating in countries with poor human rights records face difficult challenges in protecting their employees and operations," Sen. Richard Durbin said.

"However, when American companies choose to go into these countries, they assume a moral and legal obligation to ensure that security forces protecting their operations do not commit human rights abuses."

Bowoto is bringing the case against San Ramon, California-based Chevron under the Alien Tort Claims Act, a statute that dates back to 1789 and allows foreigners to sue over human rights abuses committed in their countries.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc <RDSa.L> faces a similar trial in New York early next year on charges of human rights violations and racketeering in Nigeria.

A landmark decision a decade ago found another California oil company, Unocal Corp, could be sued in a U.S. court for its alleged role in human rights abuses in Myanmar. Unocal settled in 2005, just weeks before agreeing to be bought by Chevron. (Editing by Phil Berlowitz and Susan Kelly)

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