Exhibit 99.1

    STATEMENT UNDER OATH OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER REGARDING FACTS
             AND CIRCUMSTANCES RELATING TO EXCHANGE ACT FILINGS


     I,  Paul  W.  Chellgren,  Chief  Executive  Officer  of  Ashland  Inc.
("Ashland"), state and attest that:

     (1) To the best of my  knowledge,  based upon a review of the  covered
reports of Ashland, and except as corrected or supplemented in a subsequent
covered report:

     o no covered report  contained an untrue  statement of a material fact
as of the end of the  period  covered  by such  report (or in the case of a
report on Form 8-K or definitive proxy  materials,  as of the date on which
it was filed); and

     o no covered report omitted to state a material fact necessary to make
the statements in the covered report, in light of the  circumstances  under
which they were made, not misleading as of the end of the period covered by
such  report  (or in the case of a report on Form 8-K or  definitive  proxy
materials, as of the date on which it was filed).

     (2) I have  reviewed the  contents of this  statement  with  Ashland's
Audit Committee of the Board of Directors;

     (3) In this statement under oath,  each of the following,  filed on or
before the date of this statement, is a "covered report":

     o Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal year ended September 30, 2001,
as amended by the Form 10-K/A Amendment No. 1 dated March 14, 2002;

     o Quarterly  Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters  ended December 31,
2001, March 31, 2002, and June 30, 2002;

     o Definitive Proxy Statement dated December 13, 2001; and

     o Current Report on Form 8-K dated August 2, 2002.


/s/ Paul W. Chellgren
--------------------------                 Subscribed and sworn to
Paul W. Chellgren                          before me this 7th day of
Chief Executive Officer                    August, 2002.
                                           /s/ Mary Ellen Hardy
                                           ----------------------
Date:  August 7, 2002                      Notary Public

                                           My Commission Expires:
                                           July 14, 2003