Chevron Corp. on Friday reported its first annual loss since 1980, a sign of just how tough 2016 was -- just how deep the global crude crash cut, even for Big Oil.

Chevron, the first of the oil majors to report fourth quarter and annual earnings, lost nearly $500 million last year, or 27 cents a share, compared to profits $4.6 billion or $2.45 per share in 2015. Annual revenues fell 17 percent, from $138 billion in 2015 to $114 billion last year.

But the pain appears to be largely past. Chevron earned profits in each of the last two quarters of the year, after taking big losses in the first half of 2016. The California company, which has a large presence in Houston, reported fourth quarter profits of $415 million after earning $1.3 billion in the third quarter.

"They are turning the corner," said Lysle Brinker, director of equity research for IHS Markit. "And now that oil prices are back in the $50s, they are starting to generate profits again."

Analysts expect similar results from global oil companies, including ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and BP, when they report earnings over the next two weeks. Despite a difficult 2016, energy executives and analysts say they expect business to improve in 2017.

That was the case with the world's top oil field service companies, which recently reported similar earnings. Schlumberger and Houston's Halliburton and Baker Hughes all lost money in the fourth quarter of 2016, but said they are starting to see North American revenues grow as increased drilling activities in plays such as the Permian Basin has allowed them negotiate higher prices with customers, oil production companies.

Oil companies have sent more than 300 rigs back to the oil patch - a surge of more than 75 percent - since drilling bottomed out in May. Last week, the rig count saw its biggest weekly surge, 35, in five years; this week, another 18 rigs started drilling in U.S. fields.

That has followed rising oil prices that have generally stayed above $50 a barrel since the OPEC and other major oil producers, such as Russia, agreed to cut output by nearly 1.8 million barrels a day.

Crude settled in New York Friday at $53.17, down 61 cents. IHS predicts prices averaging about $54 a barrel in 2017, which is about half the price at the peak of the last boom in June 2014, when oil topped $107 a barrel.

Chevron executives said they've returned to profitability in large part by cutting costs by $17 billion or 13 percent over the year. The company chopped exploration expenses by nearly 70 percent, or $2.3 billion.

""We've made remarkable progress in bringing our costs down," Chief Executive John Watson in a call with analysts. He expected to continue to cut spending if oil prices stay under $55 per barrel.

And this year's earnings should improve, Watson said, via tight spending, cost control and production growth. "Look, we expect to ramp up this year," Watson said. "We just want to do it efficiently."

Chevron shares fell $2.76, or 2 percent, to $113.79 Friday.

Exxon reports earnings on Jan. 31; Royal Dutch Shell on Feb. 2 and BP on Feb. 7.