Kev
I think the oil consumption very much depends on how the car is run in and what oil was in the engine in the first place.
As I understand it, from people like Roger Parker, If a fully synthetic oil is used too early in the engine life then this may not allow the pistion rings to bed in correctly leading to oil consumption. In addition if the car is not driven harder after the inital running in period this may mean the the piston rings take longer to bed in. My oil consuption leveled out at about 6,500 miles.
Yes you do have to be careful with reading on the silly black tipped dip stick. I leave mine over night in the garage and make sure that I get the tip really clean

before I put it in! Lots of oil can sit in the top of the V6 engine for quite some time after stopping.
Out of interest what oil have you been using?