The end of the euro zone is not a likely scenario, and while the economic situation in the region is difficult, it remains manageable for energy companies, consumers and stakeholders, the head of the International Energy Agency, Maria van der Hoeven, said Tuesday.

The ongoing sovereign-debt crisis in the euro zone and the resulting economic slowdown and market jitters are a serious concern for the energy industry, which is bracing for a substantial drop in consumption and demand in the region at a time when gas prices remain low and oil prices are falling.

A breakup of the union could result in an even more depressed economy, dramatically altering the landscape for the European energy industry.

"Of course we are concerned with the euro-zone situation and the economic slowdown there, which is an issue for energy demand," Mrs. van der Hoeven said.

But IEA doesn't envision the euro zone ceasing to exist even in its most pessimistic scenario.

Speaking on the sidelines of the World Gas Conference, Mrs. van der Hoeven said the agency "doesn't have predictions, only assumptions."

Since the IEA issued its last forecast, demand for power has dropped in Greece and Spain but also in the U.K. , which has been hurt by the monetary union's woes. Yet the situation "is difficult but manageable," Mrs. van der Hoeven said.

Earlier Tuesday, the IEA forecast that global natural gas demand will likely surge over the next five years, largely due to a more than doubling of consumption in China even as a boom in unconventional production continues unabated in the U.S. , turning the country into an exporter of liquefied natural gas by 2017.

By 2017, global gas demand could grow by around 580 billion cubic meters--nearly equal to the entire current annual production of Russia , the world's biggest gas producer, the IEA said in its latest forecast.

U.S. production of natural gas has surged in recent years due to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which has enabled companies to extract natural gas trapped in shale rock formations. Despite record-low prices, the revolution will "continue in full swing" and may even end coal's hundred-year dominance in U.S. power generation, the IEA also said.

Mrs. van der Hoeven said the shale-gas boom called into question the assumptions of the world's largest natural producers-- Russia , Qatar , Algeria --because the U.S. was no longer a guaranteed importer of LNG. That could explain why some huge LNG projects, such as Shtokman in Arctic Russia, have run into difficulties, she said.

In the short and medium terms, the complex project--supported by Russian gas giant Gazprom OAO (GAZP.RS), along with France 's Total SA (TOT) and Norway 's Statoil ASA (STO)--doesn't really make sense due to the increased supply from shale gas and other LNG projects. But in the longer term, as gas demand remains sustained, Shtokman could indeed be a valid plan, she said.

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