Steel pipes form the edifice of any industry that deals with products like petroleum and gas. They prove to be the safest and most efficient option for the owners and therefore these pipes have to pass through some specific standards and specifications. American Petroleum Institute 5L Specification cover all the seamless and welded steel pipe lines which are used as a transportation system in the natural gas and petroleum industries. Their size may range as per the manufacturer capabilities.

This specification to API 5L hold on to the ISO 3183 or International Organization for standardization whose work is to standardize the pipeline used in the transportation systems within the equipments, materials and the offshore structures for the industries like natural gas, petroleum and petrochemical companies.

The technical committee is authoring the standards recognized. There are two basic level of product specification known as PSL 1 and PSL 2. Where the first level is used for the standard quality of pipe lines, the second level contains some additional mechanical and chemical properties as well as testing requirements.

The X52 in the API 5L X52 Pipe define its grade. There are different grades prescribed to the pipe lines namely A, B and X where the first two grades define the temperature resistance the third grade defines the minimum yielding capacity of the pipe in 000's of psi. These pipes are available in different sizes depending on the use of the item. Another thing that must be kept in mind that proper certification is compulsory for PSL.