* Woodside CFO Sherry Duhe steps down

* Duhe to join Newcrest as CFO, replace Gerard Bond

Nov 16 (Reuters) - Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd said on Tuesday its Chief Financial Officer Sherry Duhe will leave for Newcrest Mining Ltd, ahead of the gas producer's proposed $29 billion merger with BHP Group's petroleum arm.

Duhe's move also comes ahead of Woodside making a final investment decision on the $12 billion combined Scarborough gas project and Pluto LNG expansion by mid-December.

Duhe, who previously held roles at energy majors Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, Duke Energy and J.M Huber Corporation, is the first senior manager set to leave Woodside since Meg O'Neill was promoted to chief executive officer in August.

O'Neill in a statement described Duhe as central to delivering the financial and commercial framework for the BHP deal, as well as the development of Scarborough.

Duhe will replace Gerard Bond at Newcrest. She will stay with Woodside till the first quarter of 2022.

"This presents (Woodside) a much needed opportunity to reinvigorate its strategic and commercial capabilities, after a few years of disappointments on commercial fronts, such as on tolling deals," Credit Suisse analyst Saul Kavonic said.

"Post merger, Woodside's scope for portfolio reshaping and new business development is more ambitious than any time in its history, and an opportunity for agile capabilities and perspectives to be brought in by Meg O'Neill could be welcome."

Shares of Woodside were up 0.2%, while Newcrest was down 0.8% by 0225 GMT. (Reporting by Indranil Sarkar in Bengaluru and Sonali Paul in Melbourne; Editing by Rashmi Aich)