The impact of oxygen permeability using an ionic oxygen conducting membrane reactor with surface catalyst was investigated for the oxidative coupling of methane to higher hydrocarbons. Dense Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3-delta (BSCFO), Ba0.5Sr0.5Mn0.8Fe0.2O3-delta (BSMFO) and BaBi0.4Fe0.6O3 (BBFO) membrane disks with Pt/MgO catalysts were prepared by sol-gel deposition or wash-coating. It is demonstrated that the oxygen supply by permeation needs to fit to the consumption during the coupling reaction. In case of insufficient oxygen supply comparably poor conversions are observed while higher oxygen fluxes lead to increased methane conversions, especially in the presence of an efficient catalyst. Generally, increasing catalytic activity leads to lower C-2 selectivity, especially for low oxygen permeation fluxes. The concept of a reactor employing dense catalytic membranes is viable, but the present study identifies further potential when the activity of the catalyst for the oxidative coupling is improved, leading to an overall enhanced performance of the membrane reactor. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.