With the focus of attention on climate change mitigation, the question of the future structure of the global fuel-energy balance (FEB) in the long term (until 2050) as well as the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources (RES), is acute. However, the energy transition does not evolve simultaneously and homogeneously. Likewise, the European Union is moving to renewable energy sources, while China and India seek to replace coal by natural gas. The author of the article studied natural gas place and role of in the context of the third and fourth energy transitions. The objects of the analysis were three groups of countries, chosen and united depending on the share of natural gas in the fuel-energy balance. According to the author's findings, despite the fact that while natural gas will play different roles in the developed and developing countries, its importance as a transition fuel will only increase in both groups of countries over different time horizons.