Exhibit 31.1

                                 CERTIFICATIONS


I, Robert L. G. Watson, certify that:

     1.  I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Abraxas Petroleum
         Corporation;

     2.  Based on my  knowledge,  this  quarterly  report  does not  contain any
         untrue  statement of a material  fact or omit to state a material  fact
         necessary to make the  statements  made, in light of the  circumstances
         under which such  statements  were made, not misleading with respect to
         the period covered by this quarterly report;

     3.  Based on my knowledge,  the financial  statements,  and other financial
         information  included in this quarterly  report,  fairly present in all
         material  respects the financial  condition,  results of operations and
         cash flows of the  registrant as of, and for, the periods  presented in
         this quarterly report;

     4.  The  registrant's  other  certifying  officer and I are responsible for
         establishing  and  maintaining  disclosure  controls and procedures (as
         defined in Exchange Act Rules  13a-15(e)  and  15d-15(e))  and internal
         control  over  financial  reporting  (as defined in Exchange  Act Rules
         13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

         (a) designed such disclosure  controls and  procedures,  or caused such
             disclosure  controls  and  procedures  to  be  designed  under  our
             supervision,  to ensure that material  information  relating to the
             registrant,  including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known
             to us by others  within  those  entities,  particularly  during the
             period in which this quarterly report is being prepared;

         (b) designed such internal control over financial reporting,  or caused
             such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under
             our  supervision,  to provide  reasonable  assurance  regarding the
             reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial
             statements  for  external  purposes in  accordance  with  generally
             accepted accounting principles;

         (c) evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
             and procedures,  and presented in this report our conclusions about
             the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures,  as of
             the  end of the  period  covered  by  this  report  based  on  such
             evaluation; and

         (d) disclosed  in this report any change in the  registrant's  internal
             control  over  financial   reporting   that  occurred   during  the
             registrant's fourth fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or
             is  reasonably  likely  to  materially   affect,  the  registrant's
             internal control over financial reporting.

     5.  The registrant's other certifying  officer and I have disclosed,  based
         on our most  recent  evaluation  of  internal  control  over  financial
         reporting,  to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
         registrant's  board of directors (or persons  performing the equivalent
         functions):

         (a) all significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal
             controls  which are  reasonably  likely  to  adversely  affect  the
             registrant's  ability  to  record,  process,  summarize  and report
             financial information;  and

         (b) any fraud,  whether or not material,  that  involves  management or
             other  employees  who have a significant  role in the  registrant's
             internal control over financial reporting.


Date: May 10, 2006

/s/Robert L.G. Watson
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Robert L.G. Watson
Chairman of the Board, President and
Principal Executive Officer