EXHIBIT 4
                                                                     ---------


              CERTIFICATION REQUIRED BY RULE 13A-14(A) OR 15D-14
                    OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934


CERTIFICATION


I, James C. Houck,  President and Chief Executive Officer of Western Oil Sands
Inc., certify that:


1.     I have  reviewed  this annual report on Form 40-F of Western Oil Sands,
       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 issuer as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.     The  issuer'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)) for the issuer
       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
              issuer, 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)     Evaluated the effectiveness of the issuer'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

       c)     Disclosed  in this  report any change in the  issuer's  internal
              control over financial reporting that occurred during the period
              covered by the annual report that has materially affected, or is
              reasonably  likely to materially  affect,  the issuer's internal
              control over financial reporting; and

5.     The issuer's other certifying  officers and I have disclosed,  based on
       our  most  recent   evaluation  of  internal   control  over  financial
       reporting, to the issuer's auditors and the audit committee of issuer'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 issuer'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  issuer's
              internal control over financial reporting.

Dated this 28th day of March, 2006.



/s/ James C. Houck
--------------------------------------
James C. Houck
President and Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer),
Western Oil Sands Inc.