Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, sat out an oil licensing round in Brazil for the first time on Wednesday as it struggles to reduce the oil industry’s biggest debt load. Brazil’s National Petroluem Agency sold only 37 of the 266 onshore and offshore blocks it offered in the worst turnout at a Brazil auction in years. International majors who operate in Brazil, including Statoil ASA, Royal Dutch Shell Plc., and Total SA, didn’t submit any bids. Winning bidders include QGEP Participacoes SA and Parnaiba Gas Natural, both based in Rio de Janeiro. The auction took place amid a slump in crude prices, a national political crisis and with Petrobras, the country’s dominant producer, suffering cash constraints. While small and mid-sized producers prefer to join Petrobras as minority partners to limit risk, the company is balking at new financial commitments, according to Jotavio Gomes, an oil consultant and […]