TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The catalyst includes vanadium, titanium, gallium, magnesium, copper, nickel, molybdenum, bismuth, iron, manganese, cobalt, niobium, zirconium, lanthanum or tin or their oxide. The catalyst is NiO or a mixed catalyst of NiO, V2O5:Ni2O3, Ni2V2O7 and Ni3V2O5. The catalyst is NiO supported on fumed alumina or NiO/V2O5 supported on fumed silica.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Process: In the process, the heavy oils are obtained from any suitable source including tar sands, oil shales, various heavy oil deposits or its residues and are treated to be rendered less viscous and to remove sulfur and metals. The heavy oils are treated to have an American Petroleum Institute (API) index of 30-40 and to remove at least 99.8% of sulfur and metals. The mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide are obtained by reacting the treated heavy oils under steam reforming reaction to form a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, reacting the treated heavy oils and carbon dioxide under dry reforming reaction conditions to form a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, and combining the hydrogen and carbon monoxide mixtures produced in the steam and dry reforming steps. The molar ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxide produced is at approximately 2:1 (preferably 2:1 to 2.1:1. The heavy oil, water and carbon dioxide are reacted in a single step at an appropriate temperature and in an appropriate molar ratio to form the methanol. The heavy oil, steam and carbon dioxide are reacted in a single step over a catalyst at 800-1100 degrees C. The catalyst includes a single metal catalyst, a single metal oxide catalyst, a mixed catalyst of a metal and a metal oxide or a mixed catalyst of at least one metal oxide and another metal oxide, with the catalyst optionally provided upon an oxide support. The catalyst is supported on a high surface area or nanostructured fumed alumina or fumed silica. The heavy oil is gasified in situ by any available energy, including partial burning of the oil or by alternate or atomic energy, to produce the hydrogen and carbon monoxide. EXAMPLE - Purified heavy crude oils produced from any source were subjected to the bi-reforming process in a flow reactor over a catalyst such as NiO at 800-1100 (preferably 800-850) degrees C to form a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide in approximately 2:1 ratio were converted to produce methanol under catalytic reaction conditions using usual copper and related catalysts.