Thermoacoustic oscillations at a cycle-steady state in a tube with an isothermal outer wall, and with one end closed and the other end connected to a wave generator, is analyzed based on a linearized theory. From the global mass conservation, an analytical solution has been obtained for the cross-sectional and cycle averaged axial velocity. It is shown that this averaged velocity is non-vanishing due to the mass streaming effect. By analyzing the global momentum balance, it is found that the cycle-averaged pressure depends on the momentum streaming and friction force, and a conservation relationship exists between the momentum streaming and the cycle-averaged pressure for the flow oscillating at a high frequency in a wide tube. An investigation of the global energy balance leads to an expression for thermoacoustic energy streaming. Furthermore, it is shown that the refrigeration effect is mainly caused by the non-vanishing mean velocity, and therefore the mass streaming and the energy streaming are intimately connected. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.