Many Malaysian motorists would be familiar with Shell's message that "Not all fuels are the same."

The same message also applies to the multinational oil and gas giant's motor oils or lubricants, particularly its Helix Ultra range with the revolutionary PurePlus Technology.

So, why is the PurePlus Technology termed as "revolutionary"?

Shell says it is a new natural-gas-to-liquids (GTL) process to produce motor oils, and allows the design of a pure, synthetic base oil.

This crystal-clear base oil has virtually none of the impurities found in crude oil (a typical feedstock for lubricant base oil).

To help illustrate the purity of base oil made from PurePlus Technology, Shell uses an analogy of drinking water.

Imagine taking a cup of water from a muddy river, and running it through a water filter. The filtered water will still contain some impurities, similar to crude oil processing.

Now, imagine collecting a cup of water by condensing steam or water vapour. The resulting water will be much purer - so, which cup would you rather drink?

Why is this important?

This is because base oils are the main component of finished motor oils, making up 75% to 90% of the end product besides a blend of performance additives.

"This base oil (derived from natural gas) combined with a carefully crafted additive package, creates superior motor oils that offer a level of cleaning and protection not possible with lesser base oils,” said Shell Helix global technology manager Robert Sutherland during a recent media briefing at the Shell Technology Centre Amsterdam (STCA), Netherlands.

The end product is Shell Helix Ultra with PurePlus Technology and Active Cleansing Technology - the company’s most advanced motor oil ever.

Benefits for a car's engine include higher levels of protection against build-up of deposits and unsurpassed sludge protection, superior wear and corrosion protection which can help to extend engine life and reduce maintenance costs, as well as an improvement of up to 3% in fuel economy.

According to Shell, this next-generation motor oil can even remove sludge left behind by other lower-quality oils.

No other leading motor oil can keep your car's engine closer to "factory clean" than Shell Helix Ultra with PurePlus Technology and Active Cleansing Technology.

"Our data demonstrates this," said Sutherland.

He pointed out that the new-generation Shell Helix Ultra lubricant has the most modern industry specifications and approvals from automakers including Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Ford, Honda, General Motors (GM), Chrysler and Ferrari.

"On top of enhanced cleansing, Shell Helix Ultra with PurePlus Technology provides superior wear and corrosion protection, and helps to provide superior resistance to oil degradation beyond the latest industry standards, even at the longest manufacturer-recommended oil drain intervals. For drivers, all these help to extend engine life and reduce maintenance costs," said Sutherland.

To see just how "factory clean" an engine can be by using Shell's most advanced motor oil, visitors at the ground floor of the STCA can check out a turbocharged 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine (from a Mercedes-Benz C-Class) that had been split in half.

According to Shell Global Solutions research engineer Andrew Greenall, the car was driven daily on the German autobahn for 100,000 km before its engine was removed.

A turbocharged 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine (from a Mercedes-Benz C-Class) that had been split in half. Before the engine was removed, the car was driven daily on the German autobahn for 100,000km and ran on Shell Helix Ultra motor oil with PurePlus Technology and Active Cleansing Technology.

Meanwhile, the PurePlus Technology allows Shell to design the molecules that go into the motor oil, using chemical engineering to manufacture long chains of carbon molecules that are the ideal starting point to create pure, clean base oils.

Because the base oil has been produced from natural gas at a molecular level, it is a significantly more stable product than conventional base oils, which gives the finished motor oil lower volatility, enhanced viscosity control in extreme temperatures and improved fuel economy..

Sutherland pointed out, "We can actually custom tailor the chemical composition of the base stock - to make a better motor oil."

This means PurePlus base oils have consistently lower viscosity at cold temperatures (-25 to -40C), and these can start lubricating car engines engine straight away from a cold start.

These properties translate into performance benefits including improved cleaning, wear protection, and fuel economy.

Sutherland also provided an analogy to explain the difference between crude oil-derived and PurePlus Technology base oils.

"When my wife first started participating in triathlons, she used a heavy dirt bike with big, fat tyres that was 15 to 20kg. It takes a lot of energy to ride that bike. Later, we bought her a racing bike which you can lift with one finger. It has a carbon fibre frame and skinny, little tyres. So, her performance improved because of the better equipment. Base oils are much the same way; by  changing the base oil from conventional crude oil-derived, to this base oil designed from natural gas - we improved the performance of the product," said Sutherland.

Shell Helix Ultra with PurePlus Technology is the exclusive motor oil for Italian luxury sports car manufacturer Maserati.

Maserati uses Shell Helix Ultra with PurePlus Technology as factory fill as well as service fill.

Since January 2014, all new 3.0-litre V6 diesel-powered Maserati Ghibli saloon models are filled with Shell Helix Ultra Professional AM-L 5W-30.

The product will be the only Maserati-endorsed motor oil, specified in the owner’s manual and recommended by all Maserati dealers.

“Drivers who choose Maserati demand excellence from their vehicle,” said Shell Lubricants Marketing vice president Andrew Hepher.

“Shell Helix Ultra with PurePlus Technology is designed to help keep a car's engine closer to factory clean for longer. This product is used from the first fill, as every new Maserati rolls off the production line. For drivers, this means they can enjoy the very best performance from their cars,” added Hepher.

Meanwhile, Shell Helix Ultra with PurePlus Technology is also the only motor oil recommended by Ferrari for use in their road cars around the world.

Shell's know-how is also applied to Ferrari's Formula One lubricant development programme, and from January 2015, the new season’s oils will be formulated using Shell’s patented PurePlus Technology.

"By the next F1 season, PurePlus Technology will be in F1 motor oils," said Hepher.

He also emphasised that while Shell Helix Ultra with PurePlus Technology is positioned as a premium product, it is also designed for use by common passenger cars such as the Toyota Corolla and Ford Focus.

Shell PurePlus Technology base oils are produced at the Pearl gas-to-liquid (GTL) plant in Qatar.

A partnership between Shell and Qatar Petroleum, this facility is the world’s largest GTL facility, and can produce one million tonnes of base oils per year.

"To put that into perspective, that is enough to do an oil change for 250 million vehicles every year," said Hepher.

Hepher also pointed out that Shell is the only company to commercialise this technology for motor oils.

"At least for next five years, we will be the only one with a facility like the gigantic Pearl GTL plant in Qatar. Something like this requires huge investments in capital, technology and equipment," he said.

We were given some statistics that illustrated the extreme scale of the Pearl GTL plant, which started operations in 2012.

According to Shell, the size of Pearl GTL plant is equivalent to 453 soccer fields while the steel used in its construction could also build 10 equivalents of Paris' famous Eiffel Tower.

The Pearl gas-to-liquid (GTL) plant in Qatar, is the world’s largest GTL facility.

The Pearl GTL plant manufactures products such as kerosene for aircraft, and GTL fuel for diesel engines in cars, trucks, trains and ships, as well as feedstocks or raw materials for making soaps, plastics and lubricants.

It should be noted that the Pearl GTL plant is not Shell's first commercial GTL plant, as that honour belongs to the facility in Bintulu, Sarawak which opened in 1993.

However, Hepher said the Bintulu facility is not configured to produce PurePlus Technology base oils.

"The Bintulu facility uses older technology and produces other GTL products. While it is not impossible for the Bintulu facility to produce PurePlus Technology base oils, it would require huge investments in new equipment and processes," he said.

Shell PurePlus Technology is also paving the way for next-generation motor oils by offering possibilities for new viscosity grades.

Viscosity, an important criterion of any lubricating oil, is a measure of a fluid’s thickness or resistance to flow.

Oil viscosity needs to suit the right ambient temperatures.

If it’s too thick when the engine is cold, it won’t move around the engine.

And if it becomes too thin when the engine is hot, it won’t give the right protection to the engine parts.

The prominent numbers (such as 5W-40) labelled on a lubricant pack, represent the oil's viscosity under low and high temperatures.

Automakers always provide guidelines concerning the right oil viscosity for car engines.

"So far, Shell PurePlus Technology has enabled us to create the Shell Helix Ultra 0W-range, and we are already working on future developments,” said Sutherland.

To highlight how special Shell PurePlus Technology is, Sutherland spoke about the new 0W - 16 viscosity grade.

"This is a real viscosity grade, and was introduced by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) last April (2013). It is probably not something you see on store shelves today but it is coming. The driver for 0W - 16 is fuel economy benefits," he said.

Sutherland also revealed that Shell was developing a 0W - 10 concept oil.

"At Shell, we are not only looking at the near future, but we are also looking at the future that does not exist yet. With the 0W - 10 motor oil, we are thinking about years down the road when automakers are ready for it. And, what we are going to make for them for even better fuel economy. Shell PurePlus Technology is paving the road to the future for us," said Sutherland.

Shell's vice president of downstream global commercial technology Selda Gunsel also emphasised that Shell Helix Ultra with PurePlus Technology represents a huge step forward.

"The way motor oils are produced has not changed for decades – now, we have unveiled a new motor oil that surpasses our previous lubricant technology. This brings together over 40 years of research and development in one new oil," she said.

Gunsel also pointed out that Shell invests more than other oil and gas companies into technology research and development - more than US$1 billion (RM3.22bil) annually since 2007.

"At Shell, we believe that technology and innovation are our key enablers for our business success."