A novel reactor has been developed and applied in the reaction of partial oxidation of methane to synthesis gas. The reactor consists of a hollow ceramic tube with its inside and outside surfaces coated with a metal catalyst film. The CH4/O-2 feed enters into the tube and a large fraction of the heat generated on the wall by methane combustion is transported across the tube wall towards the outer catalyst film, where the endothermic reforming reactions take place. In this way, the temperature in the combustion zone is controlled and hot spots are significantly reduced in magnitude. The performance of the novel reactor has been compared to that of a conventional wall reactor, containing the catalyst film on the inner surface of the reactor tube only. The main parameters which influence reactor operation are: the ratio of the amount of catalyst deposited on the inner and outer surface of the reactor tube, catalyst loading, temperature and feed flow rate. The position and magnitude of hot spots can be readily controlled by proper adjustment of the aforementioned parameters.