Carbonate pore systems are fascinating for petrographers to look at and a challenge for engineers to deal with. Carbonate pores are born in the sea, and constructed by calcifying organisms, as beautifully illustrated in this petrographic atlas. Many marine organisms, such as corals use carbonate to form their exoskeletons, shells or other structures out of ubiquitously available dissolved inorganic carbon in sea water. Pores form within shells, in between shell fragments and when carbonate shells dissolve. Pores in carbonate reflect the depositional environment and the stratigraphic evolution of fossils as part of the carbonate rock record. Its dimensions vary from nanometres to kilometres. Heterogeneous, multi-scale carbonate pore systems are volumetrically significant within Miocene reservoirs in SE Asia.