Abstract: Longmaxi Formation in the Zhaotong area is a typical shallow and middle-shallow shale gas reservoir. It is of great significance to understand the reservoir characteristics and its potential exploitation for the next phase of shallow shale gas extraction. In this paper, the shale gas reservoir of the Longmaxi Formation in Zhaotong, Yunnan Province, was studied. The pore structure of the reservoir was characterized by X-ray diffraction experiments and nitrogen adsorption experiments under a field emission scanning electron microscope. Through investigation and image recognition, shallow shale gas reservoirs were compared with deep shale gas reservoirs in southern Sichuan, summarizing shallow shale gas characteristics and analyzing exploitability. The results show that the total organic carbon of the Longmaxi Formation in the Zhaotong area has high abundance, good organic matter type, and over-mature thermal evolution. It is characterized by low porosity and low permeability. The mineral composition is mainly quartz, feldspar, calcite, and clay minerals, with mainly developed fine-grained mixed stone and felsic shale. Shale reservoirs are mainly divided into four types: intergranular pores, intragranular pores, organic pores, and micro-fractures. The pore morphology is dominated by plate pores open on four sides and cylindrical pores open on both ends. The specific surface area and pore volume are large. Micropores with pore sizes ranging from 1 nm to 2 nm and mesoporous pores ranging from 2 nm to 4 nm and 8 nm to 9 nm are developed. The content of organic pores in organic matter is high, and the connectivity is good. The exploitability of the shale gas reservoir refers to the characteristics of the shale gas reservoir with superior organic matter characteristics, mineral content characteristics, reservoir physical characteristics, pore structure characteristics, gas-bearing characteristics, brittleness characteristics, and in-situ stress characteristics, which can be exploited through reservoir reconstruction. In this paper, the shale gas reservoirs of the Longmaxi Formation at different depths are compared and analyzed. The results show that the mineral composition and organic pore development shape of the Longmaxi Formation at different depths are basically the same. However, the Zhaotong area has a relatively shallow burial depth, and the lower formation pressure and the higher content of feldspathic minerals lead to a greater degree of preservation of pores smaller than 0.1 μm. The main gas type of the Longmaxi Formation in the Zhaotong area is adsorbed gas, and the reservoir brittleness and in-situ stress conditions are similar to those in deeper layers. The shallow Longmaxi Formation in Zhaotong has good exploitability and is a favorable direction for shale gas exploitation.