Axios

The International Energy Agency on Thursday welcomed higher production from the Middle East and Russia, but warned that it "comes at the expense of the world's spare capacity cushion, which might be stretched to the limit."

Why it matters: The commentary in the IEA's closely-watched monthly oil market report highlights a reason why the market could be in for more volatility and price jumps despite the recent decision by OPEC and Russia to boost output.

President Trump, speaking at the NATO summit in Europe Wednesday morning, said he believes Germany is "captive to" and "totally controlled" by Russia because of the planned Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

Be smart, from Axios' future editor Steve LeVine: This is the sound of a natural gas war. Trump wants Germany — an enormous gas purchaser — to buy American liquefied natural gas and is attempting to steal the market now held by Russia.

The share of Americans who see solid evidence of global warming is at a 10-year high, and the acceptance of human impact has also trended upward, new polling data shows.

Why it matters: The latest from the ongoing series of University of Michigan and Muhlenberg College polls shows the public, as a whole, is getting slightly closer to endorsing consensus science on human-caused warming, but still remains far, far from full acceptance.