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Crude oil fell more than 1 percent on Monday, dragged down by a tumble in gasoline prices, although data indicating the biggest draw since June at the delivery point for U.S. crude tempered

some losses. U.S. crude futures closed down 63 cents, or 1.41 percent, at $44 a barrel. Front-month Brent crude futures were down $1.70, or 3.6 percent, at $46.40 a barrel. Gasoline futures

on the New York Mercantile Exchange slumped almost 4 percent. Traders cited weakness in nearby contracts versus farther-dated ones for RBOB gasoline on NYMEX as the peak U.S. summer driving

season wound to a close. "I think this is surprising to many and catching them off guard as the trend of strong spreads in RBOB are over now," said Scott Shelton, commodities

specialist at ICAP in Durham, North Carolina. Read MoreOil oversupply may finally be correcting: Kilduff Growth in China's investment and factory output missed forecasts in August. A

recent run of weak data from the world's second-largest economy has raised the chances that third-quarter growth may dip below 7 percent for the first time since the financial crisis.

Crude futures briefly came off their lows after market intelligence firm Genscape reported a drawdown of about 1.8 million barrels last week at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point for U.S.

crude, traders who saw the data said. If confirmed, the numbers from Genscape would be the largest since the actual drawdown of 1.87 million barrels at Cushing in the week to June 19,

official data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed. Read MoreThe man who called the decline of nat gas sees this for oil Financial markets are also waiting to see whether

the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this week for the first time in nearly a decade. Should rates rise, analysts expect oil to fall, as a stronger dollar would undermine

demand from importing countries. Earlier on Monday, oil fell after growth in China's investment and factory output missed forecasts in August. A recent run of weak data from the

world's second-largest economy has raised the chances that third-quarter growth may dip below 7 percent for the first time since the financial crisis. Oil prices have dropped almost 60

percent since June 2014 on the largest global surplus of crude in modern times amid concerns about a slowing Chinese economy. "We think we are near the floor, but nothing precludes that

we temporarily move lower," BNP Paribas global head of commodity strategy Harry Tchilinguirian told the Reuters Global Oil Forum on Monday. Read More The trade if Goldman's oil

plunge call is right Several banks said the immediate outlook remained weak, with Goldman Sachs and Commerzbank cutting their oil price forecasts last week. North Dakota's daily oil

production fell less than 1 percent in July, state regulators said on Monday, a drop far less than many feared and one showing the state's Bakken shale formation could continue pumping

high volumes of crude for the foreseeable future despite sliding prices. Advances in technology and efficiencies have helped the productivity of each drilling rig roughly double in the past

year, helping the industry do more with less. Read More Frackers change methods in 'imploding' oil market Highlighting that gain, the number of producing wells in North Dakota hit

12,940 in July, an all-time high.