Is this a new common pattern in Oracle Where exists ( Select NULL FROM...)?
Short answer: I would hope not!

Even the SELECT 1 idiom may have outlived its usefulness, as database engines have advanced enough to recognize that you don't really want the rows, you just want to know if the rows exist. I've looked at execution plans in SQL 2005, and have generally seen these re-written as joins, even where SELECT * is used.