The synthesized catalyst comprising 12-tungstophosphoric acid anchored to two different mesoporous silica supports, MCM-41 and SBA-15, was characterized and used as heterogeneous acid catalyst for biodiesel production by esterification of oleic acid with methanol. The effect of various reaction parameters such as catalyst concentration, acid/alcohol molar ratio and reaction time was studied to optimize the conditions for maximum conversion of oleic acid. A detailed kinetic study was carried out and activation energies were determined from the Arrhenius plot. From the kinetic studies it was found that esterification of oleic acid follows first order kinetics with respect to substrate concentration. The activation energy was found to be 44.6 and 52.4 kJ mol(-1) for 12-tungstophosphoric acid anchored to SBA-15 and MCM-41, respectively. Based on the catalytic as well as kinetic studies, 12-tungstophosphoric acid anchored to SBA-15 was found to be a better catalyst. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.