Dry reforming of methane was studied over Ni catalysts supported on γAl 2 O 3 , CeO 2 , ZrO 2 and MgAl 2 O 4 (670°C, 1.5bar, 16–20l CH 4 ml catalyst −1 h −1 ). It is shown that MgAl 2 O 4 supported Ni catalysts promoted with both CeO 2 and ZrO 2 are promising catalysts for dry reforming of methane with carbon dioxide. Within a certain composition range, the simultaneous promotion with CeO 2 and ZrO 2 has great influence on the amount of coke and the catalyst service time. XRD analyses indicate that formation of crystalline Ce x Zr 1−x O 2 mixed oxide phases occurs on double promotion. In particular, incorporation of low amounts of Zr in the CeO 2 fluorite structure provides stable dry reforming catalysis. As shown with TPR, promotion leads to a higher reduced state of Ni. SEM, XRD and TPR analyses demonstrate that highly dispersed, doubly promoted Ni catalysts with a strong metal-support interaction are essential for stable dry reforming and suppression of the formation of carbon filaments.