Patent ID: 7793725

Claim:
A method of producing hydrocarbons from a subsea well, the method comprising: a) locating a turret buoy held between a plurality of risers, wherein the risers are supported by riser buoys without aid of the turret buoy and the risers are positioned about the turret buoy so that the turret buoy is horizontally balanced between the riser buoys while disconnected from a floating vessel; b) connecting the turret buoy to a swivel having a pressure rating, the turret buoy having a production flowline connected to a subsea well through the plurality of risers; c) producing a flow of hydrocarbons from the subsea well, the flow of hydrocarbons having a hydrostatic pressure; d) sensing the pressure within the production flowline; and e) actuating a shut down valve on the production flowline within the turret buoy when the hydrostatic pressure of the flow of hydrocarbons in the production flowline is greater than the pressure rating of the swivel.