The U.S. is too attached to its supply independence to become a huge natural-gas exporter, even though the country has been experiencing a substantial oversupply situation due to a shale-gas extraction boom over the past two years, Jean-Francois Cirelli, co-chief executive of French power operator GDF Suez SA (GSZ.FR), said Thursday.

Some U.S. shale gas producers have been requesting export licenses from the U.S. authorities, as the surplus has dramatically lowered the spot price to around $2 per million British thermal units, or MBtu, the industry's standard--this price currently stands around $11 in Europe and $18 in Asia . U.S. natural gas exports are seen by industry participants as a possible threat to the hegemony of Qatar , Norway and Algeria as the world's biggest natural gas exporters.

"It doesn't seem that obvious that the U.S. will export huge amounts of natural gas, due to political reasons and not economical ones," Mr. Cirelli told Dow Jones Newswires on an interview on the sidelines of the World Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur . "The U.S. are very fond of their energy supply independence."

More interesting is whether Canadian unconventional gas producers will find a way to export to Asia , where current strong demand will likely keep increasing as the region's economy remains buoyant and as Japan is looking for alternatives to nuclear following the Fukushima nuclear disaster, he said.

Because of the strong demand for gas in Asia , prices there are unlikely to substantially decrease, he said.

GDF Suez, one of the world's largest power distributors, has sealed deals with China 's CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) to supply gas there, Mr. Cirelli said. He doubts if the country's shale gas reserves will be exploited any time soon, due to the technical difficulties the location of the fields represent--the lands are dry and the extraction of shale gas, through fracturing of the rock with the injection of high-pressured water mixed with chemicals, requires huge amount of water.

"GDF Suez hasn't yet taken a strong position on Chinese natural gas but that's what we're aiming at," he said.

After Russian gas giant OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS) mentioned recently that it was seeking new partners for its Shtokman Arctic gas project, Mr. Cirelli said his company had no interest in taking part in the development of what is one of the world's largest natural gas fields.

Mr. Cirelli also rejected any interest from GDF Suez for BP PLC's (BP) stake in its Russian joint-venture TNK-BP, which "isn't in our core business."

Elsewhere in Europe , Mr. Cirelli said a lack of proper incentives to curb carbon emissions has resulted in the re-emergence of coal as an alternative to out-of-favor nuclear, but natural gas should be the preferred source. He insisted the European exchange trading system, which places a price on carbon dioxide emissions, could be detrimental to investments, such as in Belgium.

As the Belgian government is yet to announce plans for its energy mix strategy, GDF Suez--which owns seven nuclear reactors there and wants to expand their lifespan by ten years--could develop some renewable energy capacities as a valid alternative. But not gas-fired plants as financial conditions aren't supportive, he said.

In the company's domestic market of France , GDF so far hasn't requested a regulated tariffs increase, Mr. Cirelli said. Regulated tariffs are reviewed every quarter and can only be increased by a decision from the government, acting upon the advice of the country's energy regulator and after gas distributors have made a request.

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