Abstract: A process for hydrotreating (hydroprocessing) hydrocarbons and mixtures of hydrocarbons utilizing a catalytic composite comprising a porous carrier material containing, on an elemental basis, about 0.01 to about 2 wt. % platinum group metal, about 0.5 to about 5 wt. % cobalt, about 0.01 to about 5 wt. % germanium and about 0.1 to about 3.5 wt. % halogen, wherein the platinum group metal, cobalt and germanium are uniformly dispersed throughout the porous carrier material, wherein substantially all of the platinum group metal is present in the elemental metallic state, wherein substantially all of the germanium is present in an oxidation state above that of the elemental metal, and wherein substantially all of the cobalt is present in the elemental metallic state or in a state which is reducible to the elemental metallic state under hydrocarbon conversion conditions or in a mixture of these states, in which process there is effected a chemical consumption of hydrogen.