U.S. commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 8.6 million barrels to 415.6 million barrels in the week ending October 9, far exceeding the market's consensus expectation of a 288,000-barrel reduction, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed on Thursday. The sharp decline in crude oil inventories was mainly due to a plunge in production in the Gulf of Mexico caused by a hurricane. Meanwhile, gasoline inventories unexpectedly increased by 3.5 million barrels, while distillate fuel inventories decreased by 2.5 million barrels, a larger-than-expected drop, highlighting tighter supply.