The influence of water in the CH 4 feed on the performance of 3%Mo/ZSM-5 catalyst during methane direct aromatization under supersonic jet expansion (SJE) condition was investigated. We observed that both surface Mo 2 O x C y and b-Mo 2 C species are catalytically active for methane aromatization under SJE condition. The presence of water can promote the removal of surface carbon before the generation of aromatictype and/or graphitic carbon. In appropriate amount, water can improve the stability of surface Mo 2 O x C y , and hence resulting in better catalytic performance. The study provided valuable information relevant to the direct utilization of methane hydrate.