Hydrogen production by catalytic reforming of simulated hot coke oven gas (HCOG) with toluene as a model tar compound was investigated in a fixed bed reactor over Ni/Mg(Al)O catalysts. The catalysts were prepared by a homogeneous precipitation method using urea hydrolysis and characterized by ICP,BET, XRD, TPR, TEM and TG. XRD showed that the hydrotalcite type precursor after calcination formed (Ni,Mg)Al2O4 spinel and Ni-Mg-O solid solution structure. TPR results suggested that the increase in Ni/Mg molar ratio gave rise to the decrease in the reduction temperature of Ni2+ to Ni0 on Ni/Mg(Al)O catalysts. The reaction results indicated that toluene and CH4 could completely be converted to H2 and CO in the catalytic reforming of the simulated HCOG under atmospheric pressure and the amount of H2 in the reaction effluent gas was about 4 times more than that in original HCOG. The catalysts with lower Ni/Mg molar ratio showed better catalytic activity and resistance to ceking, which may become promising catalysts in the catalytic reforming of HCOG.