**Exhibit31.1**

 

Certification ofChief Executive Officer

Required by Rule13a-14(a)(17 CFR 240, 13a-14(a))

 

I, Michael J. Mauceli,Chief Executive Officer of Reef Partners LLC, the managing general partner ofReef Global Energy III, L.P., certify that:

 

1.               I have reviewedthis quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended September 30,2004, of Reef Global Energy III, L.P.;

 

2.               Based on myknowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material factor omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, inlight of the circumstances under which such statements were made, notmisleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

 

3.               Based on myknowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information includedin this report, fairly present in all material respects the financialcondition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, andfor, the periods presented in this report;

 

4.               The registrant’sother certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintainingdisclosure 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 controlsand procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to bedesigned under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating tothe registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us byothers within those entities, particularly during the period in which thisreport is being prepared;

 

b)             Intentionally omitted*

 

c)              Evaluated the effectiveness of theregistrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this reportour 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 changein the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurredduring the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourthfiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected,or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal controlover financial reporting; and

 

5.               The registrant’sother certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recentevaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’sauditors and the audit committee of registrant’s board of directors (or personsperforming the equivalent functions):

 

a)              All significant deficiencies andmaterial weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control overfinancial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect theregistrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financialinformation; and

 

b)             Any fraud, whether or not material,that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in theregistrant’s internal control over financial reporting.

 

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*  A statement is not required under thisparagraph until we file our first Form 10-K for our fiscal year ending on orafter April 15, 2005.

 
| Date: November 22, 2004 | /s/ Michael J. Mauceli                       |
|-------------------------|----------------------------------------------|
|                    | Michael J. Mauceli,  Chief Executive Officer |
|                    | Reef Partners LLC                            |

 

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