In western
Reeves County, Orla is located east of
El Paso between
Pecos and the Texas/New Mexico state line along US 285 near the Pecos River and Red Bluff Reservoir.
In the mid-1960s Orla became a rural oil supply center. By the end of the decade its population had reached 250, and it had twelve businesses. From 1970 through 1990 its population was reported at 183, and it had variously anywhere from one to sixteen businesses.
In 1990 Orla still supplied equipment for production in nearby Permian Basin oilfields.