Molybdenum carbides supported on TiO2 or ZrO2 were prepared by temperature programmed reduction carburization method using mixtures of hydrogen and hydrocarbon (methane or ethane). All the materials exhibited molybdenum carbide with cubic crystallographic structure. The carbon content and MoC lattice parameter increased with the increase of hydrocarbon percentage (5-40%) and temperature (600-800°C) during carburization. All catalysts were significantly active in the hydrogenation of succinic acid to butyric acid and γ-butyrolactone. For the first time, a correlation between the degree of carburization and the catalytic activity for succinic acid hydrogenation was established. The selectivity depends strongly on the support. MoC/TiO2 favored the formation of butyric acid while MoC/ZrO2 and bulk MoC generated primarily γ-butyrolactone. The stability of MoC/TiO2 up to 50 h on stream in continuous reactor was demonstrated, showing the interest of carbide catalysts for future biorefinery processes.