Yes, as per the API, in the United States, a manufacturer can market an oil with as little as 31% synthetic as "full synthetic" and does NOT have to give any specific information as to what base was used and what the actual percentage of synthetic to conventional is.

The reason I said to read the bottles is because the guys selling a Synthetic that started with a synthetic base and are truly 100% synthetic are sure gonna tell you. They have to justify that $8 a quart price vs. "synthetic" oil that is $4 a quart.

The only information I have on Mobil 1 and I'm going by "Bob's the oil Guy" and a couple of other sources, is that Mobil uses a Type III base (organic petroleum) to formulate their synthetic products. As far as the actual percentage of that synthetic to conventional I couldn't tell you.

Now I'm not saying there is anything wrong with Mobil 1, I used it exclusively for well over 15 years and NEVER had an oil related problem. I did switch though when I found that Royal Purple and Valvoline SynPower quieted my "Hemi Tick" quite a bit than when I ran Mobil 1.

Also of interesting note:
For years Castrol sold a 100% true synthetic in Germany that was NOT available here. Their synthetic products in the United States were formulated from Type III bases and contained a percentage of conventional oil (a NO-NO in Germany). The product became known as "German Castrol" and was in huge demand on this side of the pond. It is now sold here as Castrol Edge SPT, while the Type III product is sold as Castrol Syntec. In a cute marketing move, they also sell a Castrol Edge with Syntec Power which is basically a product that contains a small amount of their true "German" synthetic in a much larger percentage of their cheaper to produce Syntec product - meaning it's mostly conventional based.

And I have another one for you guys although not oil related. You guys are probably too young to remember, but in the '70s some reporter broke a story that McDonalds was trucking in huge containers of saw dust into their hamburger production plants. Now this isn't entirely rare in the meat packing industry as it's commonly used on floors to absorb blood, water, etc. and avoid falls. BUT the story came out that McDonalds was using it as a filler in their hamburger meat - 100% allowed by the US Government if the percentage fell into the guidelines of organic and non-toxic fillers. Of course it was denied but it was reported that soon after this that the saw dust shipments stopped. That's our government at work protecting us. I didn't see this myself, I was a grade school kid and didn't pay attention to the news, but had a teacher in grade school who was one of those health and fitness nuts, a vegetarian who kept us up on it in class...

 

thats pretty nuts

 

ok, so I just bought some Valvoline SynPower (instead of Mobile 1) to see if it gets rid of my "non-hemi" tick...lol

 

Let me know how it goes Kent. I have started to get the tick also. I have been using Mobile 1 for 30,000 miles and not sure if I will keep using it.