The reaction of combination Of CO2 reforming and partial oxidation of methane to produce syngas (CRPOM) was tested over Ni/SiO2 catalysts which were prepared via incipient-wetness impregnation using precursors of nickel citrate and nickel nitrate. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction analysis (XRD) and H-2-temperature-programmed reduction (H-2-TPR) techniques. It was shown that the nickel citrate precursor strengthened interaction between NiO and support to form nickel silicate like species which could be reduced to produce small crystallites of metallic nickel at high temperatures. The Ni/SiO2 prepared with the nickel citrate precursor exhibited good catalytic performances for its highly dispersed metallic nickel derived from the nickel silicate species. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.