<PAGE>
     I, Michael D. Watford, being the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and
President, certify that:

     (1) I have reviewed the quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Ultra Petroleum
Corp.;

     (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 officers and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-14 and 15d-14) for the registrant and have:

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

          (b) evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
     controls and procedures as of a date within 90 days prior to the filing
     date of this quarterly report (the "Evaluation Date"); and

          (c) presented in this quarterly report our conclusions about the
     effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures based on our
     evaluation as of the Evaluation Date;

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

          (a) all significant deficiencies in the design or operation of
     internal controls which could adversely affect the registrant's ability to
     record, process, summarize and report financial data and have identified
     for the registrant's auditors any material weaknesses in internal controls;
     and

          (b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
     other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal
     controls; and

     (6) The registrant's other certifying officer and I have indicated in this
quarterly report whether or not there were significant changes in internal
controls or in other factors that could significantly affect internal controls
subsequent to the date of our most recent evaluation, including any corrective
actions with regard to significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.


Date:   May 6, 2003                By: /s/ MICHAEL D. WATFORD
                                      ------------------------------
                                   Name: Michael D. Watford
                                   Title: Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and
                                            President