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NEW YORK, July 15 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on

Tuesday put on temporary hold a judge's order that Argentina

turn over its 51% stake in oil and gas company YPF to

partially satisfy a $16.1 billion judgment.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan gave

Petersen Energia Inversora and Eton Park Capital Management,

which won the judgment, until July 17 to oppose Argentina's bid

for a longer stay while the country appeals the turnover.

Argentina has until July 22 to reply, and the matter will be

reviewed by "the next available" three-judge panel, the appeals

court said.

The dispute stemmed from Argentina's 2012 seizure of the YPF

stake from Spain's Repsol without making a tender offer

to Petersen and Eton Park, which had been minority shareholders.

Those shareholders are represented by litigation funder

Burford Capital, which has said it expected to receive

35% and 73% of Petersen's and Eton Park's respective damages.

Argentina has warned its economy could be destabilized if it

gave up its controlling stake in YPF, the country's largest

energy company.

The country had faced a July 14 deadline for the turnover, but

U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan agreed to delay

enforcement so Argentina could seek relief from the appeals

court.