By Robert Tuttle

Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Oil traders placed bets that crude oil for June delivery will rise above $75 a barrel, a day before OPEC ministers meet in Cairo to discuss production levels.

June $75 calls, the fourth-most actively traded option, rose 18 cents to $3.95 a barrel, or $3,950 a contract, at 2:01 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. A total of 100 lots traded, down from 1,125 on Nov. 26. The Nymex was closed yesterday for the U.S. Thanksgiving Holiday.

“Somebody is taking a shot on an end-of-the-first-quarter rebound on prices,” said Ray Carbone, president of Paramount Options Inc. in New York and a trader at the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Open interest on the June call, the number of contracts outstanding, was 11,677 on Nov. 25, up from 11,379 the day before. Open interest on the option rose to 9,351 on Oct. 22 from 1,345 the day before.

“When you have a big jump in open interest like that, you are seeing someone come into the market and they obviously have a view,” Carbone said. “A lot of times, that acts as a magnet.”

Oil futures fell in New York on speculation the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, responsible for more than 40 percent of global output, may delay a decision on production levels until next month as they asses the effect of their last supply cut.

Crude oil for January delivery fell 1 cent to settle at $54.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The price has fallen 63 percent since its record $147.27 a barrel on July 11 as a credit squeeze has pushed the U.S. and European economies into recession and slowed economic growth in Asia.

Ministers from three OPEC countries, including Iran, Qatar and Kuwait, said the group will probably wait until its Dec. 17 conference on Oran, Algeria, to make a final decision on output.

March $60 calls, bets that prices will rise above $60, were the most actively traded options. Their price fell 13 cents to $5.57 a barrel on 400 lots traded. January $50 puts were the second-most actively traded options, falling 60 cents to $1.55 on 165 lots traded.

One options contract equals 1,000 barrels of oil.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Tuttle in New York at rtuttle@bloomberg.net