Hebron flare boom completed in Port aux Basques

A major part of the Hebron oil production platform has been finished in Port aux Basques, and the company that did the work hopes for more industrial projects on the west coast.

Talon Energy started work on the 360 metric tonne flare boom in June 2014.

Talon gave CBC a tour of the finished product on Thursday.

"For us it's really groundbreaking," said Talon president Terry King. "This really is the first major oil and gas project, in my view, to be done outside of the east coast."

The boom is 65 meters long and had to be built lying flat. It will now be rolled out and put on a barge to Bull Arm, where it will be raised up and mated with other topside components like the lifeboat stations and a helideck.

"This is really a flagship for our company. It's a fantastic accomplishment," said King.

King said it's also noteworthy because of the jobs it created locally.

"We maxed out at 86 people in the workforce here. We did a count and all but eight of those were from the Port aux Basques and local area," said King.

"One of the big things that we accomplished here is that people can work and live in the same town, and go home every night with their family."

Raymond Coleman is one of those workers. Originally from Isle aux Morts, he now lives in Port aux Basques and worked as a journeyman welder and crane operator on the flare boom.

"It's nice to have the job done, safe and on time, hopefully more work to come," said Coleman.

Talon said it will be looking for other work in the oil sector, and may be able to piggyback on the Maritime Link project, or on Irving's plan to retrofit navy vessels — work Terry King hopes to direct to Port aux Basques.

He said the flare boom proved the company can do it.