Three of Europe's biggest oil companies are expected to bid for Anadarko Petroleum's Brazilian business, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

The newspaper cited people with knowledge of the talks as saying France's Total , the Norwegian state-controlled energy group Statoil and Denmark's Maersk Oil , are expected to compete for the business.

First-round bids for the U.S. independent oil explorer's auction of its Brazilian business, valued at more than $3 billion, are set to take place later this month.

One of the sources cited in the story, published on the FT's website, said there had also been interest from Asian oil companies, but it was unclear whether any bids from that region would materialise.

All three oil companies as well as Anadarko were unable to be reached for immediate comment.

(Reporting by Stephen Mangan; Editing by Dale Hudson)