Even the most aggressive decarbonization forecasts of the International Energy Agency (IEA) foresee a growing role for natural gas in 2040. Industry players forecast a role for gas as the fuel of choice, whether as a destination or a bridge fuel. And yet, in most parts of the world, this ‘inevitable’ rise of natural gas seems to be colliding with the reality: a high cost energy resource trapped between cheap coal and policy-supported renewables.