By Bruce Walters

Saudi Arabian oil reserves may be dwindling and the impact will adversely affect the world’s economy, according the Web site of oil-industry analyst Matthew Simmons, who is speaking at UK tonight.

Simmons is the 2007 Distinguished Lecturer for UK’s Center for Applied Energy Research and will be speaking at 7 p.m. at the Worsham Theater in the Student Center. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Simmons agreed in February to come speak at UK, said Marybeth McAlister, publications manager for the Center for Applied Energy.

Since then, world oil prices have continued to increase, and there has been a renewed interest in a “green” society, she said.

“Anybody who is interested in what our country is going to do when oil reserves run out will be interested in this,” McAlister said.

Simmons “is extremely passionate about this subject,” McAlister said, and his presentations are non-technical and informative.

Sparked by personal observations of Saudi Arabia’s oil reserves, Simmons examined more than 20 years of technical reports from petroleum engineers.

His research led him to conclude that Saudi oil reserves may already be in decline, which would present the world with an extreme oil shortage, according to his book’s Web site (www.twilightinthedesert.com).

Simmons is chairman of Simmons & Company International, an energy investment banking firm based in Houston.

Simmons graduated from the University of Utah and received a master’s business administration from Harvard Business School. He also served on the faculty of the Harvard Business School for two years.

A frequent speaker at government forums and energy symposiums, Simmons’ recently published book “Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy” has been listed on The Wall Street Journal’s best-seller list.

The Center for Applied Energy is one of UK’s multidisciplinary research centers, providing a focal point for energy and environmental research in Kentucky, such as coal-to-liquid and synthetic fuel development in response to the Arab oil embargoes of the early 1970s.

The center is a non-academic unit staffed by professional scientists and engineers who interact with faculty members and students.

More information about the Center for Applied Energy is available on its Web site (www.caer.uky.edu).