<PAGE>

                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

     CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

      I, Kenneth T. White, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of W-H Energy Services,
      Inc., certify that:

            1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of W-H Energy
      Services, 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(s) 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 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) 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

            c) 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(s) 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
      function):

            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: August 5, 2005

                                               /s/ KENNETH T. WHITE, JR.
                                   --------------------------------------------
                                   Name: Kenneth T. White, Jr.
                                   Title: Chairman, President and Chief
                                          Executive Officer