At 06:22 PM 3/11/2011, Dave Mcneely wrote...

>But, your mention makes as much sense as the claim that "synthetic"
>motor oil is not petroleum based.  It is, of course, made from
>petroleum.  mcneely

It depends. PAOs are usually made from ethylene, which is made
industrially from natural gas (or light petroleums). It can be made
from ethanol (Everclear!), but that's apparently not economical at a
large scale yet. Maybe one day, Mobil 1 will be made from corn.