Speculation that China National Offshore Oil Company might bid for Woodside has grown following CNOOC’s failed bid for US oil and gas corporation Unocal.

But this morning’s Australian newspaper reports that CNOOC chief executive Fu Chengyu told Carpenter at meeting in Beijing last week that the Chinese major was not interested in an equity stake in Woodside.

Woodside has refused to comment on the speculation, but Chinese media outlets based in Hong Kong, where CNOOC has its head office, have been claiming the takeover was a done deal.

Australian outlets have been more sceptical as the last time a foreign corporation – Shell – tried to take over Woodside the Australian government ruled that such a deal would not be in the national interest.