I can tell from your comment that you didn’t read the article.

Trinidad didn’t reject the BP-Shell consortium’s bid due to morals; it was rejected for not being high enough.

Trinidad wanted a higher lease bonus and firm drilling commitments from the consortium. The consortium offered a low bonus and only offered a commitment to shoot and analyze 3-D seismic.

What this means is that the blocks offered aren’t that prospective and the international oil companies didn’t want to commit hundreds of millions or billions of dollars of exploration capital without a better understanding of the geology.

A deep water well can cost over $200 million; a company isn’t going to commit to multiple wells without multiple defined high-quality prospects.