Separating gas from liquid down hole in a well by a downhole gas separator, gas is separated and passed to the well annulus and liquid is passed to a submersible pump at a calibrated flow rate at which liquid is vacated from a separation chamber, the length of the separation chamber providing sufficient space for gas separation as the liquid is pumped from the separator. The gas separator, limiting the amount of fluid passed to the separation chamber at less than the pumping rate of the submersible pump, creates a fluid vortex causing the separated liquid to move to the periphery and separated gas to pass near the axial center of the separation chamber. The separated gas passes to the well annulus and the liquid passes to the inlet of the submersible pump.