System and a method of extracting oil

#The present invention relates to a system for extracting oil, comprising a well for extracting oil from an oil reservoir, a separator device for separating oil and water out of an extracted mixture that comprises water and oil, said separator device comprising a deviated first flow path for said mixture and being arranged along a deviated portion of the well, and a second flow path for receiving water or a water enriched phase that has been separated from the oil-water mixture in the separator device. The separator device comprises a plurality of draining openings along a section of the deviated first flow path, via which the water or water enriched phase flows under the action of gravitational forces from the first flow path to the second flow path.

#The invention also comprises a method of extracting oil from an oil reservoir, comprising the steps of extracting a liquid mixture comprising oil and water from the reservoir via a first flow path in a well, and separating, under gravity in a deviated section of the well, the liquid into separate streams one of which mainly comprises water or a water enriched phase, the water or water enriched phase being passed from the first flow path to a separate second flow path via a plurality of draining openings along a section of the deviated first flow path.

#The system and method particularly relates to down-hole separation of an extracted oil-water mixture in any oil field, on land as well as off-shore.

#The invention will now be described more in detail with reference to the drawings, in which;

#FIG. 1 is a schematic cross sectional side view of an inventive separator device according to a first embodiment,

#FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view according to I—I in FIG. 1,

#FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of a separator device 1 according to the invention. The separator device 1 forms part of a system for extracting oil via a well from an oil reservoir. The separator device is preferably arranged as close to the reservoir as possible. In FIG. 1 there are indicated production perforations 2 via which the oil-water mixture is extracted and led into a first tube 3. Such perforations may be of any conventional type and their configuration is not crucial to the invention.

#The first tube or tubing 3 defines a first flow path 4 via which the oil-water mixture is extracted from the reservoir and the oil or oil enriched phase is further transported to in this case an off-shore platform.

#Along a predetermined deviated section of the tube or tubing 3 there are draining openings 5 arranged in a bottom region, that is a lower region, of the cross section of the tube or tubing 3. Outside the tube 3 there is arranged a second tube or tubing 6 which encloses the first tube 3, thereby defining an annular space 7 between the first and second tubes 3, 6. The second tube 6 defines a production casing which encloses the first tube 3 all the way from below the separator to the wellhead in the case of an off-shore application.