Selective CO methanation in the realistic H-2-rich gas mixture containing 10 vol.% H2O and 20 vol.% CO2 was investigated over 10 wt.% Ni-, Co- and Fe/CeO2 catalysts, prepared from nitrate and chloride precursors. BET, XRD, HRTEM, EDX and CO chemisorption techniques were used for catalyst characterization. Among the catalysts studied, the Ni/CeO2 catalyst, prepared from NiCl2 precursor, showed the best catalytic performance. This phenomenon can be associated with inhibition of CO2 hydrogenation activity by the presence of chlorine on the catalyst surface. Copyright (C) 2015, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.