No candidates have been officially put forward yet, but Ireland's central bank governor Philip Lane is widely seen as a favourite, in the race that will be decided by the ministers at their next meeting on Feb. 11.
"I have not heard about any other candidate ... which does not mean that there will not be any other," a second senior euro zone official involved in the process said. Two others also said they believed Lane stood the best chance at the moment.
On Feb. 11, finance ministers from the 19 countries using the euro will choose from among the candidates put forward.
If a vote is needed, the winner must get what is called a reinforced qualified majority, with at least 14 out of the 19 voting in favour, representing at least 65 percent of the population of the currency area.
The candidate will then go for a hearing in the European Parliament, which issues its non-binding opinion. The parliament's negative opinions have been ignored in the past.
The candidate will be formally appointed by EU leaders at a summit on March 21-22, in a qualified majority vote, reflecting the economic size and populations of the voting countries.
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Catherine Evans)
