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Most people blending S type automotive oils are buying their base oils from a company who is most likely using the Chevron Iso- DeWaxing process to make their oils, then buying their additive package from another company that is highly constrained by the API standards. The cost of getting an API certification for a single S motor oil formulation is from $125,000 to $300,000. The cost for C certification is $275,000 to $500,000. Once testing is complete, the oil can be licensed for $825 per year, plus a small royalty fee per gallon sold for all gallons over one million. The length of time between new specifications is now approximately 2 to 3 years, which does not allow a great deal of time to recover testing costs.
Additive companies, such as Lubrizol, Ethyl, Infinium and Oronite develop licensed additive formulas that they offer to oil companies to re-license. It is inexpensive to re-license one of these formulas, and the majority of oil companies choose to do this to avoid the costs associated with testing. Thus, the same chemistry is being sold under many brand names. Because of this, S type automotive oils have pretty much turned into a commodity. Although the people selling a particular brand may wish you to believe their oil is superior to any other, in fact if it's got the API seal on it, it's probably about the same as any other similarly rated automotive oil.
