Global computer consultancy Logica, which employs 450 people in Ireland, has been awarded a £1 million (€1.27 million) contract by Bord Gais to design and implement the system which will facilitate access by third parties to the Bord Gais pipeline network.

The new system is based on Logica's PRODIS gas management software. It will facilitate the transaction of gas under the Irish gas market's code of operations. The code outlines the communications and operational rules for third party access and describes how organisations will operate in the open market and interact with the Bord Gais pipeline system.

"The system will allow the managing of commercial agreements associated with the shipping of gas through the network," said Ms Sarah Edwards, business stream manager for Logica's commercial gas operations.

The contract follows the European Union Gas Directive which provides that EU member states must open up the natural gas markets to competition. The EU Directive allows independent companies to feed their gas into the Bord Gais Network. The Logica contract to facilitate the access of third parties is significant because rapidly rising demand and the depletion of the Kinsale gas field means the existing Bord Gais supply is insufficient to meet demand.

Three groups are planning to enter the Irish market. These include a joint venture between Enterprise Oil, Statoil and Marathon. Last month, Bord Gais reached an agreement with Enterprise Oil to co-fund the construction of a pipeline from Broadhaven, Co Mayo to Galway. This will link Enterprise Oil's Corrib gas field with a loop between Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Cork which the State-owned company plans to construct.

The other players planning to enter the market are Celtic Energy, a division of the US energy group El Paso, and Premier Transmission, which is owned by British Gas and US group KeySpan. El Paso has proposed building a sub-sea inter-connector linking Manchester and Dublin.