Gasoline for April delivery climbed to a 2009 high for the fourth day in a row on speculation that stockpiles fell and refineries kept production rates at a 17-year low for March.

In the Indianapolis area, prices jumped by as much as 20 cents at several stations today, including 58 area Speedway outlets that raised prices to $2.09, according to the company’s Web site.

Other area pumps also were over $2. Earlier this month, gas prices in Indianapolis briefly edged up over $2, a price that Hoosier motorists hadn’t had to pay since November.

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But there were also plenty of prices in the mid-$1.80 range.Gasoline stockpiles probably dropped 650,000 barrels last week, according to the median estimate of 14 analysts in a survey by Bloomberg News. They were 7.2 percent lower than a year earlier in the week ended March 13, according to the Energy Department.“We’re heading into driving season, you have refineries down and you still need to make springtime gasoline,” said Sander Cohan, an analyst with Energy Security Analysis Inc. in Wakefield, Mass.“When refiners reduce the run rates, that is improving the crack spread and that’s not by accident,” said James Cordier, portfolio manager at OptionSellers.com in Tampa, Fla.Gasoline demand traditionally increases as the weather warms and before major holidays. Easter is April 12.Fuel consumption in the week ended March 13 was down 0.2 percent from the previous week and 1.7 percent below a year earlier.“This is a very forward-looking market, and at some point it will be substantiated by actual demand numbers,” Cohan said.Heating oil for April delivery added 2.89 cents, or 2 percent, to $1.4996 a gallon in New York. The price has risen 19 percent in four days.Regular gasoline at the pump, averaged nationwide, rose 1 cent to $1.966 a gallon, AAA, the nation’s biggest motoring organization, said today on its Web site.