Exhibit 31.1




                               CERTIFICATIONS
                               --------------

I, James J. O'Brien, Chief Executive Officer of Ashland Inc., certify that:

1.  I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Ashland Inc.;

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  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 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  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
    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.

Date: February 7, 2007


                                       /s/ James J. O'Brien
                                       ------------------------------------
                                       James J. O'Brien
                                       Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
                                       (Principal Executive Officer)