The catalytic activities and performance of noble metals supported on various carriers such as metal oxides, carbons, zeolite, Al-pillared clays and mesoporous silica for the hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of thiophene as a model HDS reaction for petroleum were investigated in order to develop highly active new HDS catalysts. It was revealed that sulfided Rh supported on SiOB2B, amorphous carbon (Am.C), Pt supported on HZSM-5, MCM-41 and Rh supported on Al-PILM (montmorillonite) showed high and stable activities for the HDS of thiophene. The activities of these catalysts were higher than that of commercial CoMo/AlB2BOB3B HDS catalyst. Therefore, some kind of supported noble metal catalysts have high potential for new HDS catalysts for petroleum.