MELBOURNE, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Australia's Woodside Petroleum WPL.AX on Tuesday formally withdrew its A$11.6 billion ($8.4 billion) all-share proposal to take over Oil Search Ltd OSH.AX , which was rebuffed in September, and said it was not seeking any other deal to merge with its target.
The statement came after speculation that Woodside was trying to buy the Papua New Guinea government's 9.8 percent stake in Oil Search to get a foot in the door of the PNG oil and gas producer, coveted for its liquefied natural gas assets.
"Woodside is not pursuing any alternative transactions to combine the businesses," Woodside said in a statement to the Australian stock exchange.
($1 = 1.3768 Australian dollars)