Costco’s gas stations  saw a surge in demand in the most recent quarter as consumers sought out its low-priced gasoline, which helped the company top the market expectations for its third-quarter sales. Costco CEO Ron Vachris noted the “backdrop of ongoing macro uncertainty” has consumers searching out affordable options given the pressure on household budgets, which helped attract members to its gas stations. “Nowhere has this been more apparent in the third quarter than our gas business. As events in the Middle East have had a significant impact on product supply and gas prices, our focus, as always, is to be there for our members by staying in stock and offering the best value,” Vachris said. “The result was record-breaking volumes, all three four-week fiscal periods of the quarter set successive all-time company volume sales records, with the final five weeks for the quarter becoming our top five volume weeks ever,” he said.…