Usually when there is trouble in the Middle East, oil prices spike. However, despite recent airstrikes on oil refineries in Syria, that wasn't the case Thursday. Crude held steady in choppy trading, and Dennis Gartman said the reason for the muted reaction is twofold.
"We are, in fact, creating a lot more, finding a lot more, producing a lot more crude oil here in the United States than anyone would have guessed a mere two years ago," Gartman, editor and publisher of "The Gartman Letter" said in an interview with "Closing Bell."
In addition, he said, demand for gasoline is down and that had been the real product driving prices to the upside.
"Demand is falling not because the economy is weakening but because we're simply learning how to use our cars better … and we're doing more and more of our shopping online."
On Thursday, Brent crude was modestly higher near $97 a barrel, after hitting its lowest since July 2012 at $95.60 on Wednesday. U.S. crude, also known as West Texas Intermediate (WTI) ended down 27 cents at $92.53.
The U.S. and its allies bombed Islamic State-controlled oil refineries in eastern Syria for a third night in a row Wednesday, a move intended to choke off an important source of revenue for ISIS.
Read MoreISIS airstrikes: Who are the US's Arab allies?
Gartman pointed out that the refineries being hit are not like the "massive" refineries in the Gulf of Mexico.
"What we're talking about in Syria are literally nothing more than small pots," he said.
—Reuters contributed to this report.