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 most recent fiscal quarter that has materially
                 affected,  or is reasonably  likely to materially  affect,  the
                 registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and

     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 and material weaknesses in the
                 design or operation of internal controls over financial
                 reporting 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: November 6, 2006

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