For the oxygen removal from coke oven gas (COG) the catalytic activity of commercial catalysts CoMo/gamma-Al2O3 and NiMo/gamma-Al2O3 was evaluated after a sulfidation pretreatment and compared to the Pt/gamma-Al2O3 reference catalyst. Elemental analysis and temperature-programmed desorption showed that the oxidation reaction and the associated oxidation of active sulfidic centers is the main cause of deactivation despite the presence of other reductants, such as hydrogen. This approach could allow an appropriate sulfide catalyst to be designed for oxygen removal corresponding to the typical COG composition in the presence of H2S.