WASHINGTON Presidents George W. Bush and Olusegun Obasanjo became fast friends at their first White House meeting on Friday in which the Nigerian leader promised to consider ways to step up his nation's crude oil output.

"I had a good discussion today with the president of Nigeria who's talking about increasing their production," Bush told Reuters. "That's good news."

Nigeria, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is the fifth largest overseas source of oil for the United States.