The unprecedented surge in oil prices is over and crude could fall below $80 a barrel, investment strategist Dennis Gartman told CNBC.
Gartman, publisher of the Gartman Letter, an investor newsletter, said he's given up his long positions on oil and is out of the trade altogether. His comments come as US light, sweet crude has tumbled to three-months lows to about $120 a barrel.
"The volatility has been up $3, down $3, taking all the professionals that you know out. Whether you were bullish, whether you were bearish, you were getting stomped on both sides," he said. "I don't think we're going to see the end of this volatility for quite some time but I think we've seen the end of the bull market."
Gartman said the drop in oil prices could be precipitous and predicted there won't be a rally for two years.
"I don't think you're going to see crude oil go back above $145 again for quite some period of time," he said. "I think you go a lot lower."
Asked if the price could fall below $80, Gartman said, "Oh yeah, sure."
Watch the interview at left.
"I'm not a great believer that just because we've used a lot of crude oil and because crude oil went to $145, I'm not a believer we're running out of crude oil," he said. "We will find a way to get by, we'll find new technology, we'll move beyond crude oil eventually."
But he is not shorting the market either.
"I am so frightened of what's going on, I'm still staying away," Gartman said. "There are other places to go trade, other things that I'm doing. I'll leave people who are either far wiser or far dumber than I" to trade oil.
As for plays he is making, Gartman said he's short Toyota and long motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson as the country continues to downsize vehicles.