Total Among Expected Bidders For Anadarko's Brazil Assets

France's Total

, Europe's third-largest oil company, is reportedly among the expected suitors for Anadarko Petroleum's

Brazilian business the Financial Times reported on Sunday. Norway's Statoil

and Denmark's Maersk Oil are also interested in Anadarko's Brazilian operation, according to the FT. Texas-based Anadarko, the second-largest U.S. independent oil and natural gas producer, could fetch up to $4 billion for its Brazilian business in an auction that's expected to be held later this month. Asian oil companies have also expressed interest in the Anadarko Brazil assets, but no specific companies were mentioned in the FT article. Statoil, Norway's largest oil company, and Total have both been active in Brazil over the past several and both firms have been looking to bolster their presence there as Brazilian oil output increases. The country is South America's second-largest oil producer behind OPEC member Venezuela and is one of just five countries in the world that can boast of increasing oil production. Anadarko has licenses for 1 million gross acres in Brazil, some of it in the country's oil-rich pre-salt fields, the FT reported. Anadarko may use the proceeds from the sale of its Brazilian assets to fund exploration projects in Africa and perhaps the Gulf of Mexico.