Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with few defects and very small amount of amorphous carbon coating have been synthesized by catalytic decomposition of methane in $H_2$ over well-dispersed metal particles supported on MgO. The yield of SWCNTs was estimated to be 88.5% and the purities of SWCNTs thus obtained were more than 90%. Peak of the radial breathing mode in the Raman spectrum demonstrated that the diameters of synthesized CNTs are in the range 0.4-2.0 nm. Our results also indicated that MgO support materials are useful to a large-scale synthesis of high-quality SWCNTs. Increasing temperature could remarkably increase the yield and also improve the quality of SWCNTs from catalytic decomposition of methane. The morphologies and microstructures of the synthesized carbon materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD).