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PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (CNN) - Leaders of the G-20 will announce Friday that the group will become the new permanent council for international economic cooperation, senior U.S. officials told CNN Thursday.

The move comes in the wake of a major push by U.S. President Barack Obama, the officials said. The G-20 will now essentially eclipse the G-8, which will continue to meet on major security issues but carry much less influence.

"It's a reflection of the world economy today and the players that make it up," said one senior official. Nations like China, Brazil and India - which were locked out of the more elite G-8 - will now be part of the larger group.

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President Obama greets his South African counterpart, Jacob Zuma, on Friday at the Group of Eight summit.

L'AQUILA, Italy (CNN) – President Obama declared the G8 summit Friday "highly productive," writing off suggestions that the United States did not get some key things it wanted out of the meeting.

"We've agreed to take significant measures to address some of the most pressing threats facing our environment, our global economy, and our international security," Obama told reporters at a news conference.

He denied reports that the United States had sought potential new sanctions against Iran for its violent crackdown on protesters following the recent presidential election. Instead, Obama said, "What we wanted was exactly what we got, which is a statement of unity and strong condemnation about the appalling treatment of peaceful protesters."

He also noted that on climate change, the G8 nations agreed to "reduce our emissions by 80 percent" - though the deadline for such achievement was set for 2050.

"We did not reach agreement on every issue. And we still have much work ahead on climate change," Obama said. "But these achievements are highly meaningful and they'll generate significant momentum" for future talks.

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President Bush holds a press conference before leaving for Europe last month.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Bush heads to Japan for his final G-8 summit of world leaders on Saturday, as the global economy slumps, energy prices soar and food shortages loom in the developing world.

Bush says he will press other leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations to follow through on their commitments from earlier summits, but has warned there is nothing he or anyone else can do in the short term about oil prices.

"It took us awhile to get into the energy situation we're in and it's going to take us awhile to get out of it," he said Wednesday in an appearance at the Rose Garden to preview his trip.

He continued to advocate more drilling in currently protected areas of the U.S. as a medium-term fix for skyrocketing fuel costs.

"Ultimately, of course, we're going to transition away from hydrocarbon. But we're now just in a transitional period and we need more oil to be able to do so," he said.

Bush's main economic goal at the summit may be defensive, said David Gergen, former adviser to presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton.

"What's essential in this summit for George W. Bush is to make sure the world economy does not spin downward," he said.

Yet Bush is not raising expectations about what he and the other G-8 leaders can realistically accomplish on the economic front. "One thing we need to make clear when I'm with our partners is that we're not going to become protectionists; that we believe in free trade and open markets," he said Wednesday.

A former administration official who served on the National Security Council under Bush says the G-8's purpose is not to come up with quick solutions.

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