In the most ambitious makeover in its century-old history, Royal Dutch Shell plc is throttling back oil production as it inches toward a low-carbon future, but for natural gas, global opportunities abound.

During wide-ranging presentations on Thursday for the energy major’s Strategy Day, the executive team etched out a roadmap to retool, designed to reach a destination with net-zero carbons by 2050.

On the long and twisted road ahead, Shell is taking natural gas with it. 

The percentage of “total gas in our portfolio is expected to rise to around 55% or more” by the end of the decade, CEO Ben van Beurden told investors. However, “we do not anticipate any new frontier exploration entries after 2025.”

The CEO and his management team are clear eyed about the...