Let's keep the politics and personal affronts out of this please.
On topic, I don't see that Shell is any more married to WM than other big companies. And Rotella is certainly not always the cheapest at WM, or other places.
Getting a good buy comes down to being opportunistic and shopping around. Two years ago I scored Delvac 1300 tow-for-one at OReilly's (equates to $6.50/gallon!). Rotella wasn't that cheap at the time, so I got the Delvac. Right now, OR's has Tection Extra and VPB on sale for $8.99/gallon; good prices on very good products.
I am, for a lack of a better term, a tight-wad when it comes to money. I choose products only AFTER I methodically review all the potential situations of use, product performance, availability, price, maintenance plan, etc. I have run Delvac, Rotella, and Tection Extra of differing grades in my Dmax and seen absolutely zero statistically significiant differences in my UOAs. So, why be loyal to a brand when the performance does not change? I'm loyal to my wallet. If there were a distinct, significant advantage to one brand over another, I'd certainly entertain the discussion. But after being around here a while, it is 100% abundantly clear to me that HDEOs are excellnet performers, regardless of brand.
The simple fact is that if you were to never know the inputs ( the VOA) most all of us (myself included) could not distinguish the differences in UOAs from brand to brand in the major HDEO players when it comes to wear, TBN and insolubles.
Rotella, Delvac, Delo, Tection Extra, VPB, LLG, Mystic JT, Kendall and Connoco products, MC; they ALL perform very well when used appropriately in a well defined and executed maintenance plan. Flat out, the lube market has become that good. I can find scores of UOAs to show were all the lubes are great performers for their price and market. Show me UOA evidence where any of them are such horrible failures to where we can condemn an entire brand line, such that the lube is at fault, and not neglected maintenance or un-related failure.
All one has to do is spend time here:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=25&page=1
and they shall see that there is zero statistically significant advantage of one brand over another when it comes to wear protection and OCI duration (which are, BTW, the two main factors in considering the performance of one's lube selection). Period.
When I look at a VOA, it only speaks to the additive pack, and not the whole lube package. All the major companines are going to hold back some proprietary info; it's in their best interest.
I do agree that it's nice to have knowledge. But at times, we seek the wrong knowledge. We might want to know what goes in, but we need to know what comes out. VOAs are a great jumping off point for a discussion, but they pale in comparison to knowing the results. If VOAs were the ONLY knowledge we had, then it would turn this topic around. But, we have much more than VOAs and PDSs. We have UOAs. And UOAs trump VOAs any day of the week.