Exhibit 31.1

                               CERTIFICATION

Statement  Pursuant  to Section  302 of the  Sarbanes-Oxley  Act of 2002 by
Chief  Executive  Officer  Regarding  Facts and  Circumstances  Relating to
Exchange Act Filings.

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

1.       I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K 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  officers and I are responsible
         for   establishing   and  maintaining   disclosure   controls  and
         procedures  (as  defined  in  Exchange  Act  Rules  13a-15(e)  and
         15(d)-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 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  officers 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:  December 1, 2003

                            /s/ James J. O'Brien
                          -------------------------
                          Chief Executive Officer