Austrian oil and gas company OMV AG (OMV.VI) said Sunday it has acquired a 10% stake in Pearl Petroleum Company Ltd., the owner of two large gas field development projects in Kurdish Iraq.

With the acquisition, OMV buys into the appraisal, development and production operations of the two multi-trillion cubic feet gas fields, Khor Mor and Chemchemal, which are based in the Kurdish part of Iraq.

"OMV now has the rare opportunity to participate in the appraisal, development and production of very large gas reserves close to the European market," Helmut Langanger, the head of OMV's production and exploration division, said in a statement.

OMV paid an initial sum of $350 million for the stake, but contingent payments may be made depending on further reserve determinations, the company said.

The Khor Mor field is already in production, and appraisal work is due to begin at the Chemchemal field during 2009.

Based on current assessments, production at the two gas fields could reach 3 billion cubic feet a day, corresponding to 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, by 2015, OMV said.

It added that this production volume will leave "substantial quantities available for export to destinations primarily in Turkey and Europe via the planned Nabucco Pipeline."

The Nabucco Pipeline is a 3,300 kilometers long planned gas pipeline which is to connect Europe with the Caspian region by 2013. The European Union-backed project will bypass Russia and thereby reduce western Europe's dependence on gas from its eastern neighbor.

The pipeline will be build by six oil and gas companies, including OMV and Hungary's MOL Nyrt. (MOL.BU).

OMV said Friday that MOL has also acquired a stake in Pearl Petroleum, but didn't give any details of this deal.

The sellers of the stakes are the previous 50-50 joint venture partners Crescent Petroleum Co. International and Dana Gas PJSC, OMV said.

-By Flemming E. Hansen, Dow Jones Newswires; +43 1 513 69 22 10; flemming.hansen@dowjones.com