jats:sec<jats:label />jats:pHerein, the flattening and subsequent tensile testing (in the hoop direction) of steel pipes used for transmission of oil and gas are concerned. A particular focus is on the use of a novel indentation plastometry test (PIP), applied to the outer free surface of an as‐received pipe. This allows a stress–strain curve to be obtained from a relatively small volume (a disk of diameter about 1 mm and thickness around 100–200 μm). Whole section and reduced section tensile testing, of as‐received and flattened samples are carried out. Four different pipes are studied. While there are some variations between them, there is a general trend for near‐surface regions of the pipe to be a little harder than the interior, and for flattened pipes to be a little harder than unflattened ones, although these are not dramatic or well‐defined effects. PIP testing also confirms that these pipes exhibit little or no anisotropy. It is in general concluded that PIP‐derived stress–strain curves for testing of the outside of a pipe are likely to be quite close to those obtained by tensile testing of the whole section in the hoop direction, after flattening.</jats:p></jats:sec>