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[Display omitted] • Cu/FeO x catalysts were prepared by hydrothermal method companying with H 2 reduction. • Cu/FeO x was used to catalyze LTWGS and heavy crude oil cracking simultaneously. • Oxalic acid supplies in-situ H 2 for the heavy crude oil upgrading over Cu/FeO x. In this paper, Cu/FeO x composite catalysts were successfully synthesized by a hydrothermal method followed by a hydrogen gas reduction and were used as the catalysts for the cracking of heavy crude oil and the simultaneous low-temperature water–gas swift (LTWGS) reaction. Oxalic acid was used to generate the reactants (i.e., CO and H 2 O) of LTWGS reaction in-situ through its decomposition under the reaction temperature (200 ℃) of the heavy crude oil cracking. Cu0 in Cu/FeO x acted as a catalyst of the LTWGS reaction (CO + H 2 O ↔ CO 2 + H 2) and α-Fe 2 O 3 in Cu/FeO x acted as a catalyst for the cracking of heavy crude oil. In-situ H 2 coming from the LTWGS reaction promoted the catalytic viscosity reduction rate of heavy crude oil via inhibiting the radicals from recombining. This work gives a new, economical and efficient approach to supplying H 2 for heavy crude oil upgrading through the in-situ LTWGS reaction of the decomposition products of oxalic acid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]