TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preparation: No preparation method is given. Preferred Components: The porous silica matrix of the catalyst has pores of 1-100 nm diameter. The particles of nickel have a mean particle diameter of 2-10 nm. The catalyst has a Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) surface area of at least 200-1000 m2/g. The pores of the catalyst extend continuously from an outside surface of the silica matrix to an outside surface of the nickel so as to allow a reactant to penetrate to the surface of the nickel. The catalyst comprises 16-63 wt.% of metallic nickel. The active nickel surface area in the catalyst is 50-160 m2/g of nickel. The feedstock additionally comprises carbon dioxide gas, steam, and sulfur-containing gas. The sulfur-containing gas has a concentration of 0.1-5000 ppm. The sulfur-containing gas comprises hydrogen sulfide, carbonyl sulfide, sulfur dioxide, or organic thiol. The molar ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxide in the feedstock is 4:1-1:1. Preferred Method: The contacting step comprises passing the feedstock through a packed bed reactor comprising the catalyst. The pressure of the feedstock during the contacting step is 0.5-40 bar. The contacting step is conducted at a temperature of at least 250 degrees C. The temperature and feedstock flow rate during the contacting step are sufficient to achieve equilibrium conversion of carbon oxides to methane. The flow rate of the feedstock is about 1000-100000 h-1. The catalyst is effective without regeneration, after use, for at least 2000 minutes using the feedstock having at least 20 ppm of the sulfur containing gas. The method further comprises adding hydrogen to the gas, before the exposing step, to form the gas mixture. EXAMPLE - 7.8 g of Nickel(II) nitrate hexahydrate and 10 g of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide were dissolved in 400 ml of water followed by the addition of 80 ml of sodium hydroxide water solution with 4 g of sodium hydroxide by pouring at room temperature. The nickel(II) hydroxide precipitate capped with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide was then collected by centrifugation. The precipitate was dispersed into 320 ml of water to form a suspension. The pH value of the suspension was adjusted to above 12. Subsequently, 7.6 ml of tetraethoxysilane in 80 ml ethanol was slowly dropped into the suspension and maintained at room temperature for 48 hours under constant stirring to form silicon dioxide shell coated onto the nickel(II) hydroxide precipitate. The received nickel(II) hydroxide with silicon dioxide shell was washed thoroughly with deionized water to remove sodium residue in the composite, after centrifugation, and dried at 80 degrees C to obtain 50 wt.% of nickel oxide/silicon dioxide by calcination in air at 500 degrees C for 2 hours. The prepared nickel oxide/silicon dioxide was reduced in pure or diluted hydrogen gas at a temperature of 350-600 degrees C for many hours before catalyzing the methanation reaction to obtain the nickel oxide/silicon dioxide catalyst with a nickel content of 39 wt.%.