INFLOW CONTROL VALVE FOR CONTROLLING THE FLOW OF FLUIDS INTO A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL PRODUCTION WELL AND METHOD OF USING THE SAME

An inflow control valve for controlling the flow of fluids into a generally horizontal production well located in an underground reservoir, where the production well has a well casing, a production tubing located within the casing and an annulus between the production tubing and the casing. The inflow control valve has a valve body having a threaded portion for connecting the valve body to the production tubing, a through bore for connecting the valve body to an inside bore of said production tubing and an outside surface. The valve also has at least one inlet passageway extending through the valve body between the outside surface and said through bore and an inlet opening on said at least one inlet passageway formed on the outside surface of the valve body. The valve has a closure member for opening and closing said inlet opening, the closure member being located between the inlet opening and the annulus and a means to bias the closure member to an open position when the inlet opening is submerged in a liquid to be recovered from the reservoir and to bias the closure member to a closed position in the absence of the liquid at the inlet opening. A method of using such a device in a an extraction process to recover underground hydrocarbons is also disclosed.