Desulfurization, denitrogenation, deoxygenation and CCR reduction of highly aromatic petroleum and coal derived liquids are conducted with hydrogen and with a refractory base catalyst incorporating at least one Group VIA metal and at least one Group VIII metal. The catalyst has a surface area of between about 100 and 300 m.sup.2 /g and a total pore volume of between about 0.3 and 1.0 cc/g and is further characterized as follows:______________________________________ Pore Volume Distribution, Volume % in Pores of ______________________________________ 0-150 Angstroms diameter 20-40 150-200 Angstroms diameter 40-60 200+ Angstroms diameter 10-30 ______________________________________