Exhibit 31 (a)

       CERTIFICATION UNDER SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

          I, Gareth Roberts, certify that:

          1.   I have  reviewed  this  report on Form 10-K of Denbury  Resources
               Inc. (the "registrant");

          2.   Based on my knowledge, this 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 report;

          3.   Based  on my  knowledge,  the  financial  statements,  and  other
               financial  information included in this 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 report;

          4.   The registrant's other certifying  officers 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 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 (the  registrant's
               fourth fiscal  quarter in the case of an annual  report) 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  officers 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 control 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.


Dated: March 15, 2005                    /s/ Gareth Roberts
                                         ------------------
                                         Gareth Roberts
                                         President and Chief Executive Officer