REFILE-UPDATE 1-Sempra says wins $172 mln in Arg. arbitration

(Refiles to add dropped word "mln" in headline) (Adds Argentina reaction)

NEW YORK, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Sempra Energy (SRE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Tuesday it had won an international arbitration award worth $172 million against the government of Argentina for the decline in value of its stakes in two natural gas holding companies.

But the Argentine government said the ruling does not oblige it to pay anything.

The dispute concerned Sempra's 43-percent holdings in Sodigas Pampeana and Sodigas Sur, which saw their value sink after measures taken by the Argentine government in early 2002, Sempra said.

Through Sodigas Sempra has a minority stake in Argentina's largest natural gas distributor, the twin companies Camuzzi Gas Pampeana and Camuzzi Gas del Sur.

"We hope that the government of Argentina will honor its legal obligations as we seek immediate enforcement of the award," Javade Chaudhri, general counsel for Sempra Energy, said in a statement.

The award was the latest of several against Argentina by the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, or Icsid. A large number of international companies that suffered losses during Argentina's deep economic crisis of 2001-2002 have submitted claims against the government through the Icsid.

But the legal office for Argentina's treasury department said Argentina did not have to pay because of an April 2007 agreement with Camuzzi International, an Italian company that controls the two Camuzzi gas distributors.

In that agreement Camuzzi Gas Pampeana and Camuzzi Gas del Sur were allowed to raise rates in exchange for dropping Camuzzi's claim in the Icsid and pledging to invest in Argentina, something Sempra had not wanted to do.