A method for recovering the surfactant from a dispersion or emulsion of oil and water containing a temperature sensitive surfactant which method comprises the steps of heating the dispersion or emulsion to a temperature above the cloud point of the surfactant under conditions of temperature and aqueous phase salinity such that the dispersion or emulsion breaks and separates into an oil layer, an aqueous layer and a surfactant layer, and recovering the surfactant layer.The recovered surfactant may be recycled for use in preparing further quantities of dispersion or emulsion, thus rendering the operation more economic.