RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s government had high hopes that a huge auction held Wednesday to award offshore oil drilling rights would cement the country’s status as an emerging giant in the sector, capable of attracting the industry’s heavy hitters.

Those hopes were unfounded.

Only Brazil’s state-run oil company, Petrobras, and a couple of Chinese firms submitted bids for an auction that the Brazilian government had billed as the largest oil auction in history.

Most of the 14 companies eligible to participate stayed away. Two of the four fields on offer got no bids.

Petrobras was the dominant bidder for the other two, winning one entirely and taking a 90 percent stake in the other, the largest field on the block, known as Buzios. Two Chinese firms, Cnooc Limited and the China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Company, shared the remaining 10 percent stake in Buzios.